“Documentaries work through the power they awaken in viewers,” says Swiss documentary maker Heidi Specogna, who will be granted a 6-film homage during the 37th DOK.fest München. “About the urge to understand or explore the inner life of people: their values, their weirdness, their fears, the moments of their greatness. This desire awakens the political consciousness without which a turn for the better could not be initiated.”
The filmmaker and academic produces works that are characterised by commitment both to the global South and human rights of documentary film and, in doing so, questions the responsibility of the West. She received the Lola German Film Award for Cahier Africain (2016) about the victims of war crimes in the Central African Republic. In 2019, she was awarded the Konrad Wolf Prize of the Academy of Arts Berlin.
For the Heidi Specogna homage, the Munich docfest present six films from four decades of her artistic work:
- Cahier Africain Germany/Switzerland 2016. From the outside, the “Cahier Africain” is a simple school exercise book. Open it and you will sense its historical and legal significance: over 300 victims of sexual and martial violence by Congolese rebels in the Central African Republic testified here.
- Carte Blanche Germany/Switzerland 2011, 91 min. They don’t wear uniforms or carry weapons, but their missions take them to the most dangerous places in the world. About the work of the investigators at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
- Das kurze Leben des José Antonio Gutierrez Switzerland/Germany 2006, 94 min. From street kid to national hero: José Antonio Gutierrez is the first US soldier to be killed in the Iraq war. However, he did not sacrifice himself for his country. As an orphan in civil war-torn Guatemala, he set out on the tortuous journey towards the USA in the hope of a better future – where a green card is the reward for military service.
- Das Schiff des Torjägers Switzerland/Germany 2010, Heidi Specogna, 94 min.
- In 2001, the ferry of the German Bundesliga player Jonathan Akpoborie hit the headlines because of suspected child slave transports. Years later, the question of guilt has not yet been clarified – in contrast, the fate of the children is brought to life in a touching way.
- Stand Up My Beauty Switzerland/Germany 2021, 110 min. It’s a long and rocky road, but Nardos has her eyes set firmly on her goal. At a time when her country and her own life are in upheaval, the singer of traditional Ethiopian Azmari music wants to use her songs to give a voice to women who are often stuck with their hopes and dreams behind closed doors.
- Tupamaros Switzerland/Germany 1997, 93 min. In 1963, a group of young men attacked the Swiss Shooting Club in Uruguay. This gun action founded the most famous urban guerrilla in Latin America: the Tupamaros. The film tells the story of these modern revolutionaries.
Nominees for the German Documentary Film Music Award 2022
The German Documentary Film Music Award is endowed with 5,000 euros and is sponsored by the Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung. The award ceremony will take place for the tenth time as part of DOK.fest München. The 2022 nominees are:
- Among Us Women Composer: Anna-Marlene Bicking, Director: Sarah Noa Bozenhardt. Germany/Ethiopia 2021, 93 min.
- Working Women Composers: Insa Rudolph, Esra Dalfidan and Katrin Mickiewicz, Director: Julia Roesler. Germany/Poland 2021, 73 min.
- Searching for Fritz Kann Composer: Cassis B. Staudt, Director: Marcel Kolvenbach. Germany 2021, 100 min.
- Burning Memories Composition and Direction: Alice Schmid. Switzerland 2020, 80 min.
- Kalle Kosmonaut Composer: Philip Bradatsch, Directors: Tine Kugler, Günther Kurth. Germany 2021, 98 min.
- Butterflies in Mind Composers: Elias Gottstein, Lars Rudolph, Director: Sobo Swobodnik. Germany 2021, 100 min.
- A Sound of My Own Composer: Marja Burchard, Director: Rebecca Zehr. Germany 2021, 52 min.
- This Stolen Country of Mine Composer: Alva Noto aka. Carsten Nicolai, Director: Marc Wiese. Germany 2021, 93 min.
Documentary Film Award of the Goethe-Institut at DOK.fest München
The Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Award has always honoured an outstanding German documentary film of the current year. As of 2022, the prize will be awarded at four German film festivals throughout the year.
The new award procedure will start in May 2022 at DOK.fest München and will continue at DOK Leipzig, the Duisburg Film Week and the Kassel Dokfest.
“Due to its special film aesthetic and its versatility, the German documentary film has always been a permanent fixture in the Goethe-Institut’s repertoire,” writes the festival.
The documentary film prize is endowed with 2,000 euros. The Goethe-Institut also acquires the non-commercial worldwide screening rights of the film. “In addition to primarily cinematic criteria, the film should have a connection to Germany in conjunction with an intercultural or global perspective,” writes the festival.
As previously reported, this year for the first time DOK.fest München is taking place in a dual format, setting the course for the future of the festival: The 117 films from 41 countries will be shown both in Munich on the cinema screen and at home on the digital screen.
The festival will run May 4-15 in cinemas. Between 9-22 May, the entire film programme can be viewed online within German homes.
