The film programme of DOK.fest München. At the cinema. At home.

3 to 14 May 2023 at the Munich venues
8 to 21 May 2023 @home

As always, DOK.fest München opens the view out to the world: with 130 of the best and most current international documentaries from 55 countries. Our goal is the greatest possible participation in our films, which is why we bring them to the big screen in Munich cinemas as well as to home screens throughout Germany: DOK.fest stays dual.

I AM ANOTHER YOU (USA 2017, Nanfu Wang, DOK.guest Canada). Freedom, non-conformity and a life on the streets of America – this is what Dylan left the shelter of his home in Utah for. From his perspective the Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang explores the value of personal freedom – and its constraints.

#Love will find us, #North America, #Who am I?

SILVANA – SILVANA (Sweden 2017, Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis, DOK.international Main Competition). A fascinating portrait of the Swedish rapper, Silvana Imam, who has taken Scandinavia by storm with her music and uncompromising lyrics and become a significant figurehead in Sweden’s feminist and anti-racist movements.

#The Artist is Present – Films on Art, #Music for Life!, #Love will find us, #Hero's Journey, #Ganz großes Kino!, #DOK.4teens, #Who am I?

THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS (Denmark 2017, Simon Lereng Wilmont, DOK.international Main Competition). 10-year-old Oleg lives with his beloved grandmother in eastern Ukraine close to the front line. His everyday life is dictated by war. The film vividly shows what it means to be a child in times of conflict and to have to grow up fast.

#Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Caucasus, #Nominees DOK.fest Award of SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit, #Love will find us, #Hero's Journey, #DOK.4teens, #coming of age

BIS ANS ENDE DER TRÄUME (Schweiz 2018, Wilfried Meichtry, DOK.deutsch Wettbewerb). The author Katharina von Arx travelled alone around the world in the 1950s. In Tonga she met her great love Freddy Drilhon, another free thinker. Amour fou in a precarious balance between self-fulfilment, the longing to be settled and a desire for freedom.

#Nominees German Documentary Film Music Award, #The Artist is Present – Films on Art, #Love will find us

VERGOT (Italy 2016, Cecilia Bozza Wolf, Student Award). An apple orchard in the Italian Alps. Hard Rock blares out from the cellar. Here masculinity rules. It is not the ideal place to discover your homosexuality. In this tough family drama a gruff father and his two sons find new common ground. You almost want to praise the earnest method acting.

#coming of age, #Southern Europe, #Love will find us

MEIN HERZ SIEHT DIE WELT SCHWARZ – EINE LIEBE IN KABUL (Deutschland 2009, Helga Reidemeister, Retrospective DOK.network Africa). MEIN HERZ SIEHT DIE WELT SCHWARZ – EINE LIEBE IN KABUL tells the story of an impossible love: even as children Hossein and Shaima were inseparable and yet their relationship seems to be doomed to failure. Poverty, war and family honour stand in the way of a happy life for the couple.

#Love will find us, #Middle East

I LOVE MY MUSLIM (Netherlands 2017, Marjolein Busstra, DOK.panorama). Carla used to have outrageous hairstyles and loved the Amsterdam nightlife. She now wears a headscarf, prays to Allah and loves her husband Fouad. Carla is over 60; Fouad, 30 years younger. A love story that defies sweeping generalisations.

#Love will find us

BRUDER JAKOB, SCHLÄFST DU NOCH? – ARE YOU SLEEPING, BROTHER JAKOB? (Austria 2018, Stefan Bohun, BEST OF FESTS). From the mountains of Tyrol to the Portuguese Atlantic coast. After Jakob’s suicide his four brothers set off together on a journey into the past. A personal and unexpectedly light film about mourning, saying goodbye and forging new bonds.

#Love will find us, #Hero's Journey

THE FAMILY – DRUZINA (Austria 2017, Rok Biček, BEST OF FESTS). Matej becomes a father. But new family life proves difficult, something that may be exacerbated by Matej’s family background: his mother and brother have disabilities; he assumed responsibility from an early age. A film about curses – and blessings? – family.

#coming of age, #Love will find us, #Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Caucasus