Thank you very much for your interest in submitting your film to the 38th DOK.fest München (3–14 May 2023 @cinemas, 8–21 May @home)!

DOK.fest München is the festival for internationally artistically outstanding and socially relevant documentary films. As the largest festival of its kind in Germany, it has become one of the most relevant platforms for documentary film in Europe in recent years.

After two successful online editions, which could take place purely online due to Corona, and a first dual edition in 2022, DOK.fest München 2023 will also be presented in a dual version.

1. General conditions of participation

Each documentary film submitted for the 38th DOK.fest München 2023 (excluding submissions for DOK.education) must fulfill the following requirements:

• Your film must have been completed after 1 January 2022.
• We accept films with a duration of at least 52 minutes.
• Until the screening at the festival, the submitted film must not have had a regular theatrical release in Germany, nor have been broadcast by ARD (incl. third channels), arte, 3sat or ZDF. Furthermore, films that are available on internet platforms are excluded from the festival. In individual cases, the decision on admission is the responsibility of the festival management.
• The film must be submitted by 31 December 2022 (extended) via the online form and the associated request for payment (the date of the postmark / the completed online registration applies).

2. 2. Language versions

For foreign films, English or German subtitles are mandatory. For the screening process, they are not obligatory for films in English, French, Spanish or Czech. Please write a short comment that you will deliver the subtitles at a later stage. All films selected for the festival must have English or German subtitles. If your film is selected for one of the competitions, English subtitles are required for jury viewing.

3. 3. Programming / Selection

All programming decisions are made by our selection committee. We do not accept submissions for specific sections. The head of programme takes ultimate responsibility for the film’s selection and the allocation of the different sections. For the competitive sections, world premieres are preferred, the German premiere status is mandatory. Premieres will also be preferred for non-competitive sections.

Should measures be taken again to contain a pandemic, in the case of an online-only edition of our festival, the regular programme structure as well as the accompanying programme (opening, jury screenings, Q&As, award ceremonies, etc.) will be retained for the most part.

4. 4. Granting of rights, legal guarantees and exemptions

By submitting the film you guarantee to be the sole owner of all rights (screening rights of the film and the trailer, reproduction rights and the right to distribute the press material) and to grant these rights to DOK.fest München in case your film is selected. You further guarantee that the film you submit does not violate the personal or other rights of third parties. The same applies to the transfer of rights for the presentation of the film on the digital screen.

With the notification of the film selection, you grant these rights to DOK.fest München without the need for any further declaration. You shall indemnify DOK.fest München against any claims by third parties in connection with the rights referred to in section 4, paragraph 1, including the reasonable costs of the necessary legal defense, such as, in particular, lawyers' and court fees.

5. 5. Publicity / Promotion

If your film is selected we require press and photo material to be provided promptly. By accepting the regulations, you assure that you will make the material (online download link, photos, texts, trailers) available to the festival for press relations and promotional purposes in our print materials, on our website as well as on our social media channels in the context of DOK.fest München. Likewise, you agree that DOK.fest München may use film clips of up to three minutes as part of the festival coverage on the website. With your consent, you also grant DOK.fest München the right to pass on photos as well as trailers to selected partners for promotional purposes.

For the presentation of our respective festival edition on the website, you agree to the retention period of the photo material in our archive.

6. 6. Screening format

The following exhibition formats are permitted:

• DCI compliant Digital Cinema Package DCP
• ProRes File 4.2.2 HQ (sound format 5.1) or a H.264 file

7. 7. Submission fee

Due to the large number of applications we receive and the high processing costs associated with this, we feel impelled to charge an administration fee. The fee amounts to 40 euros per application, with exception of submissions from emerging countries (production country and not film location applies). You will find a list of all countries in the online form. Submissions for DOK.education are exempt from the fee.

8. 8. Submission steps

The submission is done via our website.

If you are submitting a film to us for the first time and you do not yet have an user account with us, please register here by creating an account. If you already have an account, you can log in there at any time and register a new film. In case you have forgotten your password, please request a new one through our system.
To submit via the online form, select the module "Your films" under "Your account" after logging in. You can then use the button "Neuer Film" (top right) to start your submission.

Film submission: Please complete the online form (including online screening link). Please enter correct and as complete information as possible about the submitted film, because when selecting the film for our programme, we work with the information you entered. The information will thus be included in the (online) programme magazine.

For submissions for DOK.education, please select the DOK.education section under "Registration for".

If you would like to submit your film additionally for the German Documentary Film Music Award and/or the VFF Documentary Film Production Award, please select this option additionally when filling out the submission form.

Upon receipt of your film submission and the submission fee, you will receive a confirmation email to the email address you provided during online registration. 

Submissions that are incomplete or do not meet the above criteria will be considered rejected and will not be screened. To complete the submission of your film, please follow the steps in the payment request in the confirmation email. The terms and conditions of the respective payment service provider apply.

For the time being, please do not send us any digital photos, trailers or transcripts. If your film is selected, we will request this material from you. We ask for your understanding that sent print material unfortunately cannot be returned.

The submission deadline is 31 December 2022 (extended).

The date of the postmark / the completed online registration applies.

8. 9. Submission for DOK.education

For our section DOK.education we accept submissions for the workshops of the school programme. These have to fulfill the following requirements:

• Content must focus on life worlds and/or perspectives of children and youth or young adults.
• Artistically narrated documentaries up to 30 minutes in length will be considered.

More information about DOK.education can be found here.

Deadline for submissions to DOK.education is 24 December 2022 (extended).

9. 10. Screening fee

DOK.fest München pays screening fees, both for the presentation in the cinemas and additionally on the digital screen. The screening fee is agreed with the rights holders – taking into account the best possible presentation of the festival films, we focus on invitations to the filmmakers and the corresponding (proportional) reimbursement of travel and hotel costs.

In addition, all films in the competition sections and, beyond that, all festival films have the opportunity to win a prize in various cross-sectional competitions (SOS Kinderdörfer weltweit, Documentary Film Music Award, VFF Documentary Film Production Award and FFF Documentary Talent Award). There are no claims to the assumption of costs or to any other form of remuneration.

11. Validity of the entry conditions

By completing the registration using the online form, you accept the validity of the conditions of participation. These entry conditions apply to all current film submissions, even if they have not been expressly agreed upon again. DOK.fest München does not recognize deviating terms and conditions even if they are known, unless DOK.fest München has expressly agreed to their validity in writing.

12. 12. Place of jurisdiction and the application of German law

Munich is understood as the place of jurisdiction as far as it is permissible. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to the exclusion of conflicting laws.

• Back to the call overview