DOK Leipzig Features 30 World Premieres and Films from Saxony

The DOK Leipzig Documentary Film Festival kicks off Monday evening with the film “Guten Abend, du Schöne” by director Ina Borrmann. According to the organizers, 30 world premieres and 29 debut films will be presented through Sunday. In addition, the 69th edition, running from October 26 to November 1, will award the Golden and Silver Doves, the prizes for the best documentary and animated films. 

The new director, Ola Staszel, who was born in Poland, had announced that she would place a focus on films from Central and Eastern Europe. A defining feature of this year’s festival, she noted, is that many of the works have followed their protagonists for years. 

Director Borrmann spent ten years filming the opening film, “Guten Abend, du Schöne,” which portrays women with a past in the GDR, as Staszel explained. Filmmaker Helena Třeštíková worked on “Bára – Diary of a Rockstar” for as long as 50 years. The film depicts the life of Czech rock singer Bára Basiková and will also be screened in Leipzig.

Filming Locations in Halle and Leipzig

Some films were shot at locations in Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. For example, the 76-minute film “Kindesmutter” by Konrad Schlaich is set in Halle and tells the story of 14-year-old Leonie, who is in danger of slipping into drug addiction. The 11-minute film “Ein Typ aus Kleinmachnow” by Leonard Volkmer was shot in Leipzig and is a “queer first-person narrative of longing, intoxication, and remorse,” as the organizers write in a press release. 

In addition, several filmmakers are from the region. According to the organizers, director Franka Sachse lives in Thuringia and, in the eight-minute children’s film “Hund und Baum,” tells the story of the friendship between a dog and a tree. In “Camille and the Chameleon,” Lucie Nichelmann from Halle describes for children the adventures of a girl in the thicket of the forest. 

Watch movies for free at the main train station

Some of this year’s films can be viewed free of charge in the Osthalle of the main train station, according to the festival’s website. These include, among others, the opening film “Good Evening, My Beauty” (Monday, 8:30 p.m.) and “Son of a Bitch” (Friday, 7:30 p.m.), an animated film about life in the Brazilian hinterland. According to the organizers, the program includes a total of more than 200 films from 61 countries.