DOK Leipzig (27 October – 2 November) has confirmed 78 films competing across four strands in 2025, including 30 world premieres.
In the International Competition Documentary Film (feature-length), nine titles include five world premieres and three international premieres. The slate spans Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. Selections include Melt (Nikolaus Geyrhalter), Green Desert (Meliza Luna Venegas), The Inheritors (Serge-Olivier Rondeau), The Thing to Be Done (Srđan Kovačević), A Scary Movie (Sergio Oksman), Peacemaker (Ivan Ramljak), The Red Moon Eclipse (Caroline Guimbal), Clan of the Painted Lady (Jennifer Chiu) and Elephants & Squirrels (Gregor Brändli).
The German Competition Documentary Film (feature-length) foregrounds early-career directors with eight titles—seven world premieres and one international premiere—including Sediments (Laura Coppens), White Smoke over Schwarze Pumpe (Martin Gressmann), Active Vocabulary (Yulia Lokshina), Intersection – It’s Political (Karoline Rößler), A Jewish Problem (Ron Rothschild), Nonna (Vincent Graf), Holler for Service (Ole Elfenkaemper, Kathrin Seward) and The Woman Who Poked the Leopard (Patience Nitumwesiga).
The Audience Competition gathers ten features that premiered earlier in the year at #Karlovy Vary#, #Cannes, #Sundance and other festivals. Among the entries are Take the Money and Run (Ole Juncker), Natchez (Suzannah Herbert), The Lions by the River Tigris (Zaradasht Ahmed), Queens of Joy (Olga Gibelinda), Welded Together (Anastasiya Miroshnichenko), Yanuni (Richard Ladkani), Life After Siham (Namir Abdel Messeeh), Better Go Mad in the Wild (Miro Remo), Coexistence, My Ass! (Amber Fares) and Cutting Through Rocks (Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni). The Golden Dove in this section will be decided by a five-member audience jury.
Festival director #Christoph Terhechte# frames this year’s selection as a shift back to «outward-looking» cinema—works addressing environmental threats, political violence, exploitation and strategies for resilience—following a post-pandemic run of more inward-focused films.
Find more information on the DOK Leipzig 2025 competition programme – HERE
