Fest runs May 5 – 16, 2021 and is demanding ‘stirring, touching, curious, enlightening and urgent documentary films.’ The Covid-affected event in 2020 attracted an online audience of 75,700.
“We hope to be able to welcome our audience back to the cinema in 2021, but in view of the difficult times to predict, we also consider a digital realisation,” DOK.fest Munich notes in its 2021 call for submissions. The respective deadlines are as follows:
DOK.fest film programme
For the 36th DOK.fest München is looking for national and international documentaries with a minimum length of 52 minutes which have been completed after 1st January 2020 and which have neither been shown in cinemas nor on television in Germany nor made freely accessible on an online platform.
Submission deadline: 18th December 2020
Regulations and film submission
DOK.education school programme
For the school programme of the film literacy section DOK.education, the fest is looking for short documentary films (10 – 30 minutes) that tell strong stories for and about children and young people (aged 6 to 18) in an artistic and creative way. The submission for DOK.education is free of charge and the films may already have been broadcast and shown on other platforms.
Submission deadline: 18th December 2020
German Documentary Film Music Award
The German Documentary Film Music Award honours film compositions that combine in a special way with the documentary narrative. Composers and filmmakers are invited to submit their original compositions for a current long documentary film from German-speaking countries.
Submission deadline: 18th December 2020
Student Award (by invitation)
The Student Award presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools and academies. The films are nominated for the Megaherz Student Award, endowed with 3,000 Euros. Participation is by invitation, which the festival sends to partner universities.
Future calls for entry will be made for:
The DOK.forum Marketplace every year offers around 40 selected projects a targeted matchmaking with partners from editorial, production, promotion and sales departments in roundtable sessions, one-to-one meetings and competitions with prizes. A special call for strong documentary projects at each stage of development will be made in December 2020.
Sumbission period: December 2020 to 1st February 2021
DOK.forum Perspectives: DOK.digital – Award for New Narrative Formats
As part of the DOK.forum Perspectives, the festival is awarding the prize for cross-media and interactive narrative formats for the second time.
The prize is donated by the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (BLM) and is endowed with 2,500 euros. Young journalists, filmmakers, game designers and producers (up to 35 years of age) from German-speaking countries are invited to submit their work.
Submission period: December 2020 to 1st February 2021
Submission deadlines at a glance
DOK.fest film programme: 18th December 2020
DOK.education School Programme: 18th December 2020
German Documentary Film Music Award: 18th December 2020
Student Award (by invitation only): 18th December 2020
DOK.forum Marketplace: December 2020 to 1st February 2021
DOK.digital – Award for New Narrative Formats: December 2020 to 1st February 2021
