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DOK Leipzig has revealed the competition line-up for its 68th edition, completing the 2025 film programme. A total of 78 films, including 30 world premieres, are competing for Golden and Silver Doves across the four competitions. “Most of the films sent to us in the post-pandemic period have dealt with family situations and inner thoughts. This year, however, numerous documentaries and animated films have returned to looking outward,” says festival director Christoph Terhechte.

The 33rd edition of the festival’s co-production/co-financing market unveils a “compelling” line-up of projects, welcoming an array of newcomers and seasoned filmmakers. “The selection demonstrates how versatile the domain of the documentary filmmaker and new media artist is,” says Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, Head of IDFA Industry. “Through the use of inventive cinematic language and formats, these projects bring underexposed stories while also exploring non-narrative expressions, both of which provide context in a society marked by turbulence and uncertainty.”

Presented this week at Rome’s MIA Market (6–10 October), The Eighth Day is a 75-minute feature documentary directed by Sabrina Varani and produced by Tv2000. Set during the Catholic Jubilee Year of 2025, the protagonists of this story are the homeless men and women living on the margins. “The relationship nurtured with the protagonists profoundly changed [Varani’s] perspective, allowing the director to see them not as figures on the margins, but as the center of a ceaseless galaxy of ordinary human activity,” comments Tv2000 exec Anna De Simone.

At a time when historical narratives are increasingly contested, the October 7 MIA panel “What’s the Future of History” gathered broadcasters and commissioning editors to reflect on the place of factual history programming in today’s fractured media landscape. Moderated by Krishan Arora, UK producer and consultant at Mixing Media, the session featured Laurent Filliung (ARTE GEIE), Elisabeth Hagstedt (Histoire TV), Caroline Haidacher (ORF), Sergiy Nadzelskyy (Suspilne, Ukraine), Proinsias Ní Ghrainne (TG4), and Mikael Österby (SVT International).

At this year’s MIA Market, Warsaw-based production powerhouse Madants is pitching The Lawyer, a feature documentary that explores one of the most unbelievable – yet entirely true – stories to come out of Kenya in recent years, that of a top lawyer who had forged his credentials, and taught himself law via YouTube and episodes of Boston Legal. “Our goal is to make The Lawyer a story that resonates far beyond Kenya — a reflection on how ambition, opportunity, and moral boundaries intertwine in today’s world,” says producer Kinga Tasarek of Warsaw-based Madants.

CPH:DOX, EAVE and IMS announced October 8 selections for the fifth edition of the CHANGE programme, that seeks to “empower" documentary film projects from the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. For the 2025/2026 edition, eight teams will join the co-production training workshop series, concluding with a presentation of the projects to the international industry during CPH:DOX 2026.

An Italian philanthropist, an enigmatic painting signed ‘P. Gauguin,’ and a decades-long battle for truth: Reflections of Gauguin unfolds like a cinematic thriller set against the labyrinthine world of art authentication. Directed by Heidi Richert and penned together with Carlos Marroquín, the Finnish documentary is being pitched this week at Rome’s MIA Market by Helsinki-based firm Pig and Horse Oy.

For the Caribbean island of Curaçao, baseball is more than just a game — it’s an identity, a lifeline, and a dream. In Baseball Island, an upcoming documentary helmed by Lyangelo Vasquez and pitched at MIA 2025, the national passion for baseball becomes a vivid lens through which to explore the island’s collective spirit, postcolonial legacy, and sense of belonging. “It tells a heart-warming story about a devoted community determined to win the prestigious Little League world championship in the US,” says Dutch producer Thomas den Drijver.

The Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe and Camera Lucida sections run alongside Leipzig's four competitions for documentary and animated films. “Using films as a lens to open minds, uncover lives behind the headlines, break silences, engage with the 'other(s)' and observe the reality with care…is what films in DOK Leipzig’s out-of-comp sections endeavour to do,” organisers write. The Doc Alliance Award section, in turn, features documentaries that were selected for the 2025 competition, as organised by the Doc Alliance network. (Still: Eugénie Grandval’s Bulle Ogier, Portrait of a Hidden Star)

Approximately 200 titles will be selected for the festival running May 31 to June 7 2026. “We're looking for powerful, professional films with a distinctive voice,” writes incoming Artistic Director Anita Piotrowska. “We aim to honour the finest traditions of the Krakow Film Festival, so we're particularly interested in documentaries and short forms that make bold artistic statements and offer meaningful insights about ourselves or the world around us.”