International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
Encyclopedia
The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film , also known as the Leipzig DOK Festival, is a film festival
that takes place annually in Leipzig
, Germany
. It was founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Documentary Films" and was the first independent film festival in East Germany. In 1995 a separate competition for animated films was added and in 2004 a film industry program, DOK Industry, was initiated to allow a networking and contact platform for industry professionals. Shortly after German reunification
attendance figures dropped, with just 5,500 people coming in 1993; however, they quickly picked up and in 2008 the festival had more than 27,000 attendees. The 2010 International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film ran from 18 until 24 October 2010.
) and as a platform for productions from East Germany. After receiving permission from the responsible authorities, the inaugural festival was held from 11 to 17 September 1955 with Walter Kernicke as director.
However, no sooner had the festival started than it was stopped. Following harsh media criticism of the political influence over and the organization of the 1956 festival the organizers attempted to force changes. The response of the Government was to cancel the 1957, 1958 and 1959 festivals. The official reasons given were: the deteriorating situation in West German film making (1957), the loss of the original function of the festival as a German cultural and documentary film week, (1958) and plans to establish a cultural and documentary film week of the socialist states (1958).
In 1960 the festival returned under the name International Leipzig Documentary and Short Film Week and in 1962 the Gold and Silver Doves were introduced as prizes and the white dove appeared for the first time as the festival logo. The dove had been designed by Pablo Picasso
for the Paris World Peace Congress of 1947 and the organization committee asked French author Vladimir Pozner
if he could seek his friend's permission to use the dove for the festival. Picasso readily agreed.
In 1964 Wolfgang Harkenthal replaced Walter Kernicke as director and his first festivals took place against the backdrop of international conflicts and increasing politicization of the festival. In 1965 the 20th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War was marked by a retrospective titled "Films against fascism". In addition, Peter Ulbrich
, Stanley Forman
and Joris Ivens
appealed to all documentary film makers to give their support to Vietnam and to inform the civilian population of the behavior of the US Army. In the official festival bulletin they wrote "No responsible film maker may remain apathetic to the Vietnam question." The 1966 festival opened with a blood collection for the people of Vietnam. The tone changed somewhat in 1967 with ban being put on all Czech films documenting the developing "Prague Spring
" movement.
In 1968 the festival was renamed the International Leipzig Documentary and Short Film Week for Cinema and Television and despite the name change the festival continued to be overshadowed by bans on films critical of official East German policy, especially regarding films on the situation in Czechoslovakia and Latin American; conflicts on censorship and freedom that were to remain a feature of the festival until 1989.
In 1973 Ronald Trisch took over the post of director and in 1974 Jane Fonda
attended to promote the Vietnam film "Introduction to the Enemy".
Following the political changes in East Germany in 1989, the festival was assured of financial support from the transition authority and re-branded itself in 1990 the International Leipzig Film Week for Documentary and Animation Film under the directorship of Christiane Mückenberger.
The early 1990s were characterized by extremely low attendances and half empty cinemas. In 1992 a competition as run with the buyer of the 3000th season pass being awarded a return flight to London. However, over the course of the decade visitor numbers started to recover with some 16,000 attendees in 1997.
In 1994 Fred Gehler took over the mantle of festival director and oversaw the introduction of the separate animation competition in 1995. In 1998 the first golden dove for lifetime achievement was awarded to Santiago Álvarez
and Fernando Birri
. In 1998 the festival moved to its current home in the Passage Kino.
Following Fred Gehler's retirement after the 2003 festival, Claas Danielsen was appointed new festival director and introduced the DOK Industry program as a platform for industry professionals to meet and exchange ideas. In 2005 the short title DOK Leipzig was officially launched alongside the formal International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film.
, the East German Film Archive. Since 1991 this function has been taken on by the Film Departmnet of the German Federal Archives
.
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
that takes place annually in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It was founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Documentary Films" and was the first independent film festival in East Germany. In 1995 a separate competition for animated films was added and in 2004 a film industry program, DOK Industry, was initiated to allow a networking and contact platform for industry professionals. Shortly after German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
attendance figures dropped, with just 5,500 people coming in 1993; however, they quickly picked up and in 2008 the festival had more than 27,000 attendees. The 2010 International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film ran from 18 until 24 October 2010.
History
The initiative for the 1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Documentary Films came from West German journalist and film critic Ludwig Thomés who, in the course of a discussion with the East German filmmakers club, Club der Filmschaffenden der DDR, proposed establishing a festival in Leipzig both as a counterpart to the Mannheim Culture and Documentary Filmweek (now known as International Filmfestival Mannheim-HeidelbergInternational Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival is an annual film festival held jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The festival was established in 1952. In Mannheim there are six cinema centres and 19 single cinemas.The festival presents arthouse films of...
) and as a platform for productions from East Germany. After receiving permission from the responsible authorities, the inaugural festival was held from 11 to 17 September 1955 with Walter Kernicke as director.
However, no sooner had the festival started than it was stopped. Following harsh media criticism of the political influence over and the organization of the 1956 festival the organizers attempted to force changes. The response of the Government was to cancel the 1957, 1958 and 1959 festivals. The official reasons given were: the deteriorating situation in West German film making (1957), the loss of the original function of the festival as a German cultural and documentary film week, (1958) and plans to establish a cultural and documentary film week of the socialist states (1958).
In 1960 the festival returned under the name International Leipzig Documentary and Short Film Week and in 1962 the Gold and Silver Doves were introduced as prizes and the white dove appeared for the first time as the festival logo. The dove had been designed by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
for the Paris World Peace Congress of 1947 and the organization committee asked French author Vladimir Pozner
Vladimir Pozner
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Pozner , was a Russian-Jewish émigré to the United States. During World War II he spied for Soviet intelligence while being employed by the United States Government....
if he could seek his friend's permission to use the dove for the festival. Picasso readily agreed.
In 1964 Wolfgang Harkenthal replaced Walter Kernicke as director and his first festivals took place against the backdrop of international conflicts and increasing politicization of the festival. In 1965 the 20th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War was marked by a retrospective titled "Films against fascism". In addition, Peter Ulbrich
Peter Ulbrich
Peter Ulbrich is a German fencer. He competed in the individual and team sabre events for East Germany at the 1980 Summer Olympics.-References:...
, Stanley Forman
Stanley Forman
Stanley Joseph Forman is a photojournalist who over a four-year period won a Pulitzer Prize three times while working at the Boston Herald American....
and Joris Ivens
Joris Ivens
Joris Ivens was a Dutch documentary filmmaker and committed communist.-Early life and career:...
appealed to all documentary film makers to give their support to Vietnam and to inform the civilian population of the behavior of the US Army. In the official festival bulletin they wrote "No responsible film maker may remain apathetic to the Vietnam question." The 1966 festival opened with a blood collection for the people of Vietnam. The tone changed somewhat in 1967 with ban being put on all Czech films documenting the developing "Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
" movement.
In 1968 the festival was renamed the International Leipzig Documentary and Short Film Week for Cinema and Television and despite the name change the festival continued to be overshadowed by bans on films critical of official East German policy, especially regarding films on the situation in Czechoslovakia and Latin American; conflicts on censorship and freedom that were to remain a feature of the festival until 1989.
In 1973 Ronald Trisch took over the post of director and in 1974 Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
attended to promote the Vietnam film "Introduction to the Enemy".
Following the political changes in East Germany in 1989, the festival was assured of financial support from the transition authority and re-branded itself in 1990 the International Leipzig Film Week for Documentary and Animation Film under the directorship of Christiane Mückenberger.
The early 1990s were characterized by extremely low attendances and half empty cinemas. In 1992 a competition as run with the buyer of the 3000th season pass being awarded a return flight to London. However, over the course of the decade visitor numbers started to recover with some 16,000 attendees in 1997.
In 1994 Fred Gehler took over the mantle of festival director and oversaw the introduction of the separate animation competition in 1995. In 1998 the first golden dove for lifetime achievement was awarded to Santiago Álvarez
Santiago Álvarez
Santiago Álvarez Román was a Cuban filmmaker. He wrote and directed many documentaries about Cuban and American culture...
and Fernando Birri
Fernando Birri
Fernando Birri is an Argentinian film maker and theorist. He is considered by many to be the father of the new Latin American cinema.Birri was born in Santa Fe, Argentina...
. In 1998 the festival moved to its current home in the Passage Kino.
Following Fred Gehler's retirement after the 2003 festival, Claas Danielsen was appointed new festival director and introduced the DOK Industry program as a platform for industry professionals to meet and exchange ideas. In 2005 the short title DOK Leipzig was officially launched alongside the formal International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film.
Retrospectives
Between 1960 and 1989 the selection of the retrospectives occurred in cooperation with Staatliches Filmarchiv der DDRStaatliches Filmarchiv der DDR
The Staatliches Filmarchiv der DDR was the central film archive of the GDR .The archive, founded on 1 October 1955, was commissioned to collect, secure and make publicly accessible the results of the national film production...
, the East German Film Archive. Since 1991 this function has been taken on by the Film Departmnet of the German Federal Archives
German Federal Archives
The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv are the National Archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952....
.
- 1960 Dziga VertovDziga VertovDavid Abelevich Kaufman , better known by his pseudonym Dziga Vertov , was a Soviet pioneer documentary film, newsreel director and cinema theorist...
- 1961 Films of the world - for the peace of the world
- 1962 Alberto CavalcantiAlberto CavalcantiAlberto de Almeida Cavalcanti was a Brazilian-born film director and producer.-Early life:Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a prominent mathematician. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a...
- 1963 Joris IvensJoris IvensJoris Ivens was a Dutch documentary filmmaker and committed communist.-Early life and career:...
- 1964 Robert Flaherty
- 1965 Films against fascism
- 1966 French documentary film
- 1967 50 years of Soviet documentary films
- 1968 Polish documentary film
- 1969 Documentary film and television journalism in the GDR
- 1970 Documentary film under Lenin
- 1971 Roman KarmenRoman KarmenRoman Lazarevich Karmen was a Soviet war camera-man and film director and one of the most influential figures in documentary film making; insofar as his propaganda is concerned he could be considered USSR's answer to Leni Riefenstahl, though the comparison is by no means absolute.-Communist...
- 1972 Films in the people's struggle for freedom: Latin America
- 1973 Films in class struggle - Traditions of the proletarian Filmmakers in Germany before 1933
- 1974 Cuban Documentary film
- 1975 Winners in Leipzig 1956-1974
- 1976 Japan documentary film
- 1977 New soviet Documentary film
- 1978 Anima 78 - Animated films from socialist countries
- 1979 Trials - Films by students of the University for Film and Television of the GDR
- 1980 Czech Documentary film
- 1981 American Social Documentary - USA-Documentary films 1930-1945
- 1982 Trailblazers
- 1983 Films in the people's struggle for freedom: Chile
- 1984 Reality and Film – proletarian and civic-progressive documentary films of the 1930s in Great Britain
- 1985 Anima for peace
- 1986 Spain 1939-1939
- 1987 Documentary film from middleasian soviet republics
- 1988 Documentary film in India
- 1989 Klaus Wildenhahn
- 1990 Karl GassKarl GassKarl Gass was a German documentary filmmaker. With over 120 films, he was among the most productive documentary directors of the GDR, and is considered a leading master of DEFA documentaries. He had the idea for the DEFA long term documentary "Die Kinder von Golzow"...
- 1991 Trusting in everyday reality - Trends in documentary film making in Denmark
- 1992 To America
- 1993 Views of Leipzig
- 1994 Prize Reduction – Documentary film and the Geman Film prize
- 1995 Seen again – rediscovered
- 1996 The reality behind the images – films by Erwin LeiserErwin LeiserErwin Leiser was a German-born director, writer, and actor.Born and raised in Berlin, he fled to Sweden when 15 to escape the Nazis...
- 1997 Dialogue with a legend - award-winning films from the past 40 years
- 1998 Alles Trick – German animated films until 1945
- 1999 Children's films – Trying to draw the line
- 2000 Jürgen Böttcher
- 2001 Memory in images - 40 retrospectives from the documentary film archive
- 2002 Women-Film-Women
- 2003 Look/Look Back and Reality Caught Unawares
- 2004 Volker Koepp: People and landscapes – Films from Wittstock to Czernowitz
- 2005 Red films are easier spotted - The political documentary film in Germany 1980-2005
- 2006 enlightening – Classic Avant-garde and Experimental-films in Germany
- 2007 Spurensuche - Filmpositionen aus fünf Jahrzehnte
- 2008 Strange Home - Migration to and from Germany
- 2009 Joris IvensJoris IvensJoris Ivens was a Dutch documentary filmmaker and committed communist.-Early life and career:...