The 68th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (27 Oct–2 Nov) will pair a historically framed Retrospective on critical U.S. cinema with Homages to filmmaker Lee Anne Schmitt and the abstract-animation platform Punto y Raya.
Titled «Un-American Activities: Films from the ‘Other America’ at the Leipzig Documentary Film Week from 1962 to 1989,» the Retrospective revisits U.S. works once screened in the #GDR that denounced #racism, social inequality, the #Vietnam War# and McCarthyism—films perceived at the time as testimonies to a «different America.» Curated by Tobias Hering and Tilman Schumacher, the strand includes thematic programmes across the 1960s–80s and features expected guests such as Deborah Shaffer, Barbara Kopple, Allan Siegel, Gordon Quinn and Christine Choy.
The Retrospective extends beyond the festival week. «Emile de Antonio, On a Permanent Mission» opens 24–26 Oct at Luru Kino, followed by «Front Lines» (28 Oct–2 Nov, CineStar 5) and «Collective Action» (7–8 Nov, Luru Kino). Titles include Millhouse: A White Comedy (1971), Point of Order (1964), In the Year of the Pig (1968), Harlan County, USA (1976), Union Maids (1976) and Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements (1985). A Luru Kino panel will address the Vietnam War’s impact on politics and filmmaking.
Complementing this historical lens, DOK Leipzig’s Documentary Film Homage centres on U.S. artist and filmmaker Lee Anne Schmitt, known for 16mm essay films that examine landscapes, objects and the visible imprints of political systems. Curated by James Lattimer, the programme spans four features—California Company Town (2008), The Last Buffalo Hunt (2011), Purge This Land (2017) and Evidence (2025)—plus four shorts including Bowers Cave (2009) and Cry Love (2020). A masterclass, «Hommage Lee Anne Schmitt: Gathering Evidence,» will explore autobiographical and research-based approaches.
The Animated Film Homage recognises Punto y Raya (PyR), the Europe-based festival and platform dedicated to non-figurative moving images. Curated by Franka Sachse, it comprises three programmes—«A Best Of Punto y Raya» (featuring Max Hattler’s 2023 top-prize O/S), «Celebrating Women Abstractionists,» and «100 Years of Absolute Film,» the latter presenting 1920s works by Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Walter Ruttmann with live music. On 29 Oct, the duo kinoMANUAL reinterprets Kurt Schwerdtfeger’s Reflektorische Farblichtspiele (1922) at UT Connewitz; a PyR masterclass with Nöel Palazzo and Miguel Pires de Matos follows on 30 Oct at Propsteikirche St. Trinitatis.
Further tie-ins include two matinees: «More Than a Story: The Book City Leipzig Portrays Itself» (2 Nov, Passage Kinos Wintergarten) from the Saxon State Archives, and «For Christiane Mückenberger, the Undaunted One» (1 Nov), honouring the former festival head with a screening of Forgive Me for Being Human.
