DOK Leipzig’s Nadja Tennstedt isn’t keen on promoting the USPs (unique selling points) of her Industry programme over those of fellow professional doc events within the film calendar. For her, a collegial approach by all festival parties is desirable. The focus of their activities is the filmmaker, and it is the filmmaker alone who must be the beneficiary of all their activities, she maintains.
“I am not a big fan of the term USP,” Tennstedt confides to Business Doc Europe. “Especially in times like the one we are in right now, where financing is difficult and fractured, I believe we must work and come together as a community to support and defend creative, artistic, boundary-pushing filmmaking.”
“We are here to support the filmmakers, who are reflecting on society and gift us with works of art that are engaging, daring, captivating and help us to make sense [of everything],” she adds. “We are here to assist the development, production, completion, marketing of said works by connecting the filmmakers with colleagues and potential partners who can support the process.”
Furthermore, Tennstedt’s rationale of “collaboration” over “competition” extends to the programme format that she and her colleagues prefer.
“No arena-style pitches but intimate presentations. At DOK Leipzig’s Co-Pro Market there is no central pitch. Instead, attending industry – funders, broadcasters, sales agents, potential co-producers – are asked to study the project book ahead of the market to decide whom they’d like to meet with. Project teams also have the opportunity to ask for meetings,” she adds.
The DOK Co-Pro Market this year runs 28 October to 29 October and celebrates its 20th edition. 35documentary project selections from 30 countries will be presented and over 900 meetings are expected to be conducted between project teams and doc industry representatives. Complementary online meetings will be held on 5 November. This year’s crop of projects was culled from 330+ submissions.
“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,“ says Tennstedt.
“Choosing 30 projects out of more than 330 applications is an intense process that is often difficult, but at the same time exciting and inspiring,“ she continues. “It is heartening to see that so many of them are celebrating successful festival careers, are distributed and broadcast.“
The 2024 DOK Leipzig harvest of completed films, previously presented at DOK Industry is impressive, and includes Blueberry Dreams by Elene Mikaberidze (Audience Competition), Valentina and the MUOSters by Francesca Scalisi (International Competition Documentary Film), Pelikan Blue by László Csáki (International Competition Animated Film), Nice Ladies by Mariia Ponomarova (MDR Special Screening) and Maydegol by Sarvnaz Alambeigi (Young Eyes section).
DOK Industry also features a number of direct pitch sessions. The October 28 DOK Preview Germany comprises a launch pad for works-in-progress projects and freshly completed German documentary films seeking world premiere and international distribution opportunities. DOK Preview International (October 30) presents eight new films in search of gap finance, distribution partners and festival premieres.
DOK Preview International alumni who are part of this year’s festival programme are Flowers of Ukraine by Adelina Borets (International Competition Documentary Film), Marching in the Dark by Kinshuk Surjan (Audience Competition) and The Other One by Marie-Magdalena Kochová (Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe). DOK Preview Germany alumni are wo/men by Kristine Nrecaj and Birthe Templin (international title House with a Voice, Panorama section).
DOK Archive Market
Another core component of DOK Industry is DOK Archive Market during which leading German and international archives and libraries can offer up their footage, stills and collections to interested doc-makers and producers.
“We started the DOK Archive Market at Leipzig three years ago together with archive producer Monika Preischl, because we perceived there was a need to establish a meeting point that focusses on their work, and the various professionals who work with archive materials in film,” explains Tennstedt.
“The market is popular with national and international archives and footage libraries [wanting] to meet with producers and filmmakers looking to license materials. But it is more than that – filmmakers can solicit advice from archive producers and researchers, all members of GRAP e.V., on concrete questions around researching and licensing footage. We also offer screenings of archive films and films that employ archive materials to tell their stories and panel discussions and very practical ‘how-to’ sessions.”
These include Talks on ‘Archives of Colonialism and Socialism,’ focusing on the GDR, the struggle for Independence in Namibia and the Film Heritage of Today (October 30), and another on the research and production of the feature doc Stasi FC, about how the former East German intelligence agency (the Stasi) infiltrated the football industry in Eastern Germany.
Other highlights of DOK Industry include a series of Ex Oriente film talks. Ex Oriente is a training programme for documentary features and series. Since 2023, DOK Leipzig has hosted the second session of the programme workshop. The 2024 Ex Oriente talks culminate in a 30 October double-header comprising a Thomas Riedelsheimer masterclass and an essential lecture on the sale and distribution of creative docs.
Animation and doc
Tennstedt further reminds BDE of the strong animation dimension to the festival and how this is further emphasised in her programme.
”Two years ago, Christoph [Terhechte, festival director] introduced the Golden Dove for feature-length animated film and with it we thought it important to expand on offers for animation at DOK Industry under the umbrella Focus on Animation,” she says. “Together with CEE Animation we started the Animation Lab DOK Leipzig, a four-day residential event designed for professional producers developing their first animated documentary. The workshop runs alongside the festival and the participants and tutors take part in industry activities as well.”
This year French producer Jean-François Le Corre, who co-produced the highly-lauded Oscar-nominated feature doc animation Flee (2021), will present a work-in-progress case study on his latest work Suzanne by Joëlle Oosterlinck and Anaïs Caura. “Our partners from AG Animationsfilm will discuss the current trends toward medium-length formats in animation production and with ‘Animation meets Doc’ as part of DOK Industry Connections, we invite professionals working in animation to mix with documentary filmmakers,” Tennstedt signs off.
Click here to check out the full DOK Industry programme, commencing October 28.
