Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 4, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Festival director Claas Danielsen was highly satisfied despite lower audience numbers than during the 2007 anniversary edition: “Both the cinemas and the digital DOK Market were very well attended. Our special program ‘Afghanistan—Inside Views’ was almost always sold out, the competition programs were extremely well received, and the film selection was highly praised. I am particularly pleased that the number of German and international industry visitors remained stable after the major anniversary, demonstrating that DOK Leipzig has firmly established itself as an international industry meeting place. Many guests praised the good atmosphere, the exciting and varied program, and the friendly and professional support.”
Over six days, 27,000 viewers attended 269 cinema screenings and accompanying events, compared with 276 the previous year. A total of 315 animated and documentary films from 49 countries were presented—around 14 days of continuous cinema. DOK Leipzig recorded 31,000 viewers in its 2007 anniversary year and around 24,500 in 2006. Films were also viewed 4,000 times in the digital DOK Market. A total of 1,400 industry visitors from around the world were accredited, compared with 1,450 the previous year.
Claas Danielsen offered a first preview of the next festival at the closing press conference. For the 52nd DOK Leipzig, scheduled for October 26 to November 1, 2009, he announced a focus on Africa, a special program marking the 20th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution, and a retrospective of the work of renowned documentarian Joris Ivens.
DOK Leipzig Presentations
Immediately after the festival, DOK Leipzig was presenting a program that week at the Verzió Film Festival in Budapest, including “Kinder. Wie die Zeit vergeht” by Thomas Heise, “Drifter” by Sebastian Heider and “The Mother” by Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov.
On November 13, as part of its partnership with the Cottbus Film Festival, DOK Leipzig was due to screen a selection of new Baltic documentaries.
Two days later in Copenhagen, festival director Claas Danielsen was to present the Doc Alliance Award for the first time together with the directors of four other European documentary-film festivals. Through Doc Alliance, DOK Leipzig and partner festivals CPH:DOX in Denmark, Jihlava IDFF, Planete Doc Review in Poland and Visions du Réel in Switzerland support feature-length artistic auteur documentaries in Europe through program exchanges, promotional activities and distribution initiatives.
