Doxumentale, the Berlin-based international festival for documentary storytelling, has unveiled its program for its third edition, running May 27 to June 7 2026.
This year’s edition presents a total of 46 international documentary feature films and 12 short films. Non-fiction book readings, live podcasts, and a virtual reality exhibition will offer alternative entry points into documentary storytelling. Highlights include:
ART – Art as a space for social and political negotiation
- The documentary LOOT: A STORY OF CRIME AND REDEMPTION (Don Millar | CA | 2025 | 87 min | German premiere) explores urgent questions of restitution and the handling of looted cultural heritage.
- The book PARANOIA IN HOLLYWOOD (Jan Jekal | Matthes & Seitz Berlin | 400 pages) is set in 1940s Los Angeles and tells the story of European artists in exile who were persecuted as communists.
CHANGE – On history, power, and politics
- In 2022, Jina Mahsa Amini dies in police custody. Her death sparks Iran’s largest feminist protest movement. In the podcast AZIZAM: MY MOTHER’S REVOLUTION, Aida Amini reflects on how this has changed her life, her family, and the diaspora.
- LESS THAN 5 GRAMS OF SAFFRON (Négar Motevalymeidanshah | FR | 2025 | 7 min | no dialogue | produced by Ten2Ten Films), part of the VR exhibition, follows 23-year-old Golnaz, an Iranian migrant living in Berlin.
FEMALE LENS – Women’s lived realities
- Diane Jobson: Rastafarian icon, former lawyer to Bob Marley, and to this day an advocate for Jamaica’s poor. In MISS JOBSON (Amanda Sans Pantling | JM, ES | 2025 | 80 min | German premiere), she continues her relentless fight for justice.
- In the podcast STORIES FROM THE BEAUTY PARLOR by Annamaria Olsson, beauty salons become sites of documentary storytelling, where self-care meets politics and personal conversations reveal shared challenges.
NATURE – Our environment, our planet
- Polar bears are a symbol of the threatened Arctic. TRADE SECRET (Abraham Joffe | AU, UK | 2025 | 98 min | German premiere) follows three allies on risky investigations deep into the system of trophy hunting. Who really benefits from protecting wildlife?
- The exhibition WHAT THE FUTURE WANTS is a creative and playful initiative by Tactical Tech aimed at empowering young people to actively shape the digital world they want to live in.
TOGETHER – Families and communities
- THE STOLEN CHILDREN OF AOTEAROA (Julian Arahanga | NZ | 2025 | 104 min | European premiere) addresses the fate of Indigenous children in New Zealand who were taken from their families and communities.
- What is it like to crowdsurf at a music festival in a wheelchair? And what does gaming look like if you are blind? In the video podcast FREAKS NO MORE! by Vicky Hristova, people with visible and invisible disabilities share their perspectives.
“From 27 May – 7 June Doxumentale transforms Potsdamer Platz into a vibrant meeting space for film, literature, podcasts, and immersive media,“ write organisers. “From the ground floor up to the 19th floor, a multifaceted festival hub will take shape at Atrium and The Playce—with panoramic views over the city. The program will also take place in numerous neighborhood cinemas, open-air venues, and selected locations across Berlin.“
ANOTHER STORY – MAKING WOMEN IN DOCUMENTARY FILM HISTORY VISIBLE
With the Creative Europe MEDIA–funded collaboration Another Story, Doxumentale highlights the often-overlooked cinematic legacy of women documentary filmmakers. Together with European partners, the program showcases landmark works from the 20th and 21st centuries. Doxumentale will feature the films ICH DENKE OFT AN HAWAII (Elfi Mikesch I DE I 1978 I 85 Min.), ROAD OF BROTHERHOOD AND UNITY (Maja Weiss I SI I 1999 I 104 Min.) and THE WOMAN‘S GREATEST VALUE IS HER SILENCE (Gertrud Pinkus I DE, CH I 1980 I 90 Min.).
Accompanying formats such as screenings, workshops, and discussions will provide a broader context for the films. All Another Story program items can be found here.
About Doxumentale
Doxumentale (27 May – 7 June, 2026) is an international Berlin-based festival for documentary storytelling. At the intersection of documentary film, non-fiction literature, podcasts, and new media, it presents formats that bring together filmmakers, journalists, authors, artists, scientists, and local audiences. From May 28 to 31, the Dx’Hub, the festival’s industry program, brings international experts from film, media, culture, academia, and civil society to Berlin. Panels, workshops, and networking events create space for interdisciplinary exchange and new collaborations. A highlight is The Good Media Pitch, Germany’s first film and impact program connecting selected projects with civil society experts for potential partnerships.
Doxumentale is organized by The Good Media Network and is made possible in large part through funding from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Regular sales for festival passes and single tickets have begun. Single tickets for all events cost 12€ (10€ reduced, 6€ for children). Festival passes are available with a 10% early bird discount until May 10, 2026. The unlimited festival pass costs 81€ (instead of 90€), and the reduced pass 63€ (instead of 70€). All tickets and passes are available for purchase online.
