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.

DOK.guest Canada

Indigenous culture and megacities, monarchy and liberalism – seven documentaries from and about Canada. The series is part of Canada's cultural programme as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2020/21, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada and the Government of Canada.

HOW BIG IS THE GALAXY – KHOZYAIN OLENEI (Estonia, Russian Federation 2018, Ksenia Elyan). Before us, the endless vastness of the tundra. Reindeer in the twilight. A hard cut and we find ourselves in the narrow camp of the Zharkovs. The seven-year-old Zakhar connects these two extremes with his curious questions. Faraway Siberia seems amazingly close.

#Asia

DOK.international Main Competition

Slices of life, insights and perspectives: The films of the International Competition open doors to new worlds for us. They compete for the VIKTOR DOK.international Main Competition, which is endowed with 10,000 euros. The prize sponsor is Bayerischer Rundfunk.

CHINESE PORTRAIT – 我的镜头 (Hong Kong 2018, Xiaoshuai Wang). A portrait of present-day society in China created entirely without dialogue and in long takes reminiscent of moving paintings. A wonderful, extremely idiosyncratic, cinematic film.

#Asia

CLOSING TIME (Germany, Switzerland 2018, Nicole Vögele). Sleepless in Taipei – but not hungry. A late-night café under the motorway and its clientele: Tattooists, gamblers, couples. As peaceful as it is philosophical. Soup, vegetables and a warm bowl of rice help get them through the night.

#Asia

DOK.horizonte Competition – Cinema of Urgency

The films in this series tell stories from countries in transition. They are supported by ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL with funds from the BMZ and are nominated for the VIKTOR DOK.horizonte Competition, endowed with 5,000 euros. The award donor is the Petra-Kelly-Stiftung.

BEFORE FATHER GETS BACK – SANAM MAMA DABRUNDEBA (France, Georgia, Germany 2018, Mari Gulbiani). Teenagers Iman and Eva take part in a film course at their school in a small Georgian village and document their everyday life. Meanwhile their father is far away in Syria fighting for the Islamic State. Radical transformations captured in calm sequences.

#Nominees DOK.fest Award of SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit, #Asia

CENTURY OF SMOKE (Belgium 2018, Nicolas Graux). In the Golden Triangle, in the mist-shrouded jungle of Laos, a family from the Akha tribe lives from opium cultivation. The women work in the fields and raise the children. The men smoke opium. It is a livelihood and a curse. In powerful images, the film depicts the vicious cycle.

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Student Award

The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The films are nominated for the megaherz Student Award, worth 3,000 Euros.

LES VAGUES DU PLAT PAYS (Switzerland 2018, Yan Sterckx). Pui is a modest man. He belongs to the Urak Lawoi, an indigenous people of sea nomads. As the owner of a boat he lives from fishing and the boom of Thai tourism. At night, when the others celebrate, he is there - at the other end of the world - for his children.

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SATYA – ROUGH CUTS OF LIFE (Germany 2018, Karuna A. Fuchs, Elisa Maria Nadal). Our life is just a rough cut. A journey from Nepal to Europe produces a dazzling filmic kaleidoscope of fleeting encounters. A film about people’s loss and longing and the search for “satya,” a truthful life.

#Asia

DOK.panorama

DOK.panorama shows innovative documentary films from all over the world mapping the diversity and current trends of documentary storytelling – including many new discoveries and premieres.

THE CHINESE WILL COME (Serbia 2018, Tanja Brzakovic). Chinese migrants are hardly noticed in Serbia. They work in agriculture and trade, supplying the population with cheap everyday products. But a state visit by the Chinese president promises future-oriented changes.

#Let's talk about money, #Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Caucasus, #Asia

YUKIKO (France 2018, Young Sun Noh). Three women connected by fragile memories and vague associations. Director Noh spins her poetic family story between Korea and Japan, beyond the historical scope of the war.

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Munich Premieres

Munich is the home of most of the filmmakers whose works are gathered together in the Munich premieres. But time and again, the view extends far beyond the city limits.

MURGHAB (Germany 2019, Martin Saxer, Daler Kaziev, Marlen Elders). In the Tajik mountain town of Murghab, much has changed since Socialism. Surrounded by windswept plains, the strong-willed inhabitants cope with the sparcity of everyday life. An ethnographic portrayal of rugged mountain area.

#Asia

BEST OF FESTS

Innovative cinema and intimate insights: The BEST OF FESTS series brings together films that have already been screened at other important festivals and celebrated or awarded prizes there.

HEARTBOUND – HJERTELANDET (Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden 2018, Janus Metz, Sine Plambech). In the past 25 years, more and more Thai women have been drawn to northern Denmark by lonely men – in the hope of a better life. Four of these couples and their families are followed over ten years. An epic intercultural drama.

#Asia