DOK Leipzig 24

Following on from their multi award-winning When Spring Came to Bucha (2022), Mila Teshaieva and Marcus Lenz return to the liberated Ukrainian city to follow a set of characters dealing with personal and ethical dilemmas in the years after the full-scale invasion. “A sense of injustice on various levels is spreading inside the nation. What future will these people have, what future will this society get?” Lenz ponders to BDE.

When he was a young man, director Daniel Abma dreamed of being a school teacher, but when it came to the crunch the responsibility seemed too enormous. Nevertheless, he always retained an enormous admiration for teachers and caregivers, who are now the subject of his new doc, selected for German Competition in Leipzig. “Now I am a filmmaker, I can contribute something to the cause by showing them my respect by making a portrait of the important work they do,” Abma tells BDE of his subjects.

Narrated by German Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Alina Cyranek’s feature doc (part-dance, part-animation, part-interview) tells a story of domestic violence and a woman’s attempts to break free from a damaging relationship. It also presents a critique of “a political and social system that prefers to look the other way,” says producer/director Alina Cyranek. The project won the D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize, providing post-production services valued at €10,000.

The DOK Leipzig Head of Industry talks to Business Doc Europe about her professional pro-gramme which commences October 28, running through to November 1. "We are an international co-production platform, so we are looking for projects that connect with international audiences who are keen on auteur-driven, visually and formally interesting creative documentaries,“ she underlines.

Michaela Cajkova of Prague-based Filmotor announced the acquisition on the eve of the 67th DOK Leipzig. Directed by Chris Gude and produced by mutikino, the US/Colombian doc follows a fictitious explorer who is reporting on gold-mining and its commercialization in Venezuela. Paradoxically, the gold diggers both live off nature and destroy it at the same time. (Exclusive trailer)

For Christoph Terhechte, DOK Leipzig can be “instrumental as a festival in helping to boot the career of a film.” A premiere here can provide the perfect launchpad for sales and a later theatrical life, he tells BDE. “It is super important for filmmakers to have their film in Competition in a festival like ours because that might make the difference between a film that gets seen by a happy few or one that reaches the widest possible audience.”

Thomas Riedelsheimer’s new documentary, opening DOK Leipzig (28 Oct-3 Nov), looks at light from the twin perspectives of art and quantum physics. “I am just stunned by the topic, the vastness of what light can mean and be,” the director tells Business Doc Europe. “All these little things make me just aware that the world is a place of wonder.”

The 67th edition will present a total of 209 films and XR works from 55 countries. “The films bear witness to a diverse and complex world. Many of them point out alternatives to the status quo. They give hope. They do not deny the looming destruction of our natural resources; instead they are dedicated to examining what we want to preserve,” says festival director Christoph Terhechte.

The 2024 jury for the International Competition Documentary Film consists of Maria Bonsanti, Sylvaine Dampierre, Eric Hynes, Avi Mograbi, and Akram Zaatari. The five jury members will present Golden Doves to both the Best Feature Documentary and the Best Short Documentary. Silver Doves will be awarded to the best feature-length documentary and the best short documentary by an up-and-coming director.

The 2024 DOK Neuland programme presents eleven works from the fields of VR, AR, 360° film, gaming, installation and participatory film. The associated exhibition runs from 29 October to 3 November and is spread across four locations in Leipzig: in the Museum of Fine Arts (MdbK), at the main station, in the Galerie KUB and in the Cinémathèque Leipzig.