Regulations Film Submission for the 41st DOK.fest München

Thank you very much for your interest in submitting your film to the 41st DOK.fest München (6–17 May 2026 @cinemas, 11–24 May 2026 @home).

As a festival for outstanding international artistic and socially relevant documentary films, DOK.fest München is the largest of its kind in Germany and an important platform for documentary film in Europe.

The 41st DOK.fest München will once again combine the best of both worlds to provide a dual festival experience: From May 6 to 17, the selected documentary films will be presented in Munich cinemas and our special venues, and from May 11 to 24 @home will be shown exclusively on our digital screen throughout Germany.

 

1. General conditions of participation

Every documentary film submitted for the 41st DOK.fest München (except for submissions for DOK.education) in 2026 must meet the following requirements:

  • Your film must have been completed after 1 January 2025.
  • 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, or broadcast on a public or free-to-air private channel. Furthermore, films that are available on freely accessible 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 15 December 2025 via the online form (for further information, see point 8).
  • After a brief review of your submission, you will receive a request for payment, which must also be paid by 15 December 2025.

 

  1. 2. Language versions

English or German subtitles are required for the viewing process. An exception exists for submissions in French and Spanish. Please write a short comment that you will deliver the subtitles at a later stage. If your film is invited to the festival, German or English subtitles are mandatory. If your film is selected for one of the competitions, English subtitles are required for jury viewing.

 

  1. 3. Programming / Selection

Submissions for specific series are not possible. All programming decisions as well as the allocation of the different sections are made by our selection committee. World premieres are preferred for the competitions, and German premiere status is a prerequisite. Premieres are also explicitly welcome outside of the competitions.

 

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

By submitting the film, you guarantee to be the sole owner of all rights to the work. This includes the personal rights, copyrights and ancillary copyrights of all persons appearing in the film and those involved in the production of the film as well as the rights of other third parties. The screening rights of the film and the trailer, the right to distribute the press material are to be temporarily granted to DOK.fest München in case your film is selected. The same applies to the transfer of rights for the presentation of the film on our digital screen.

If your film is selected for the festival, you grant DOK.fest München these rights without the need for any further declaration. You shall exempt DOK.fest München from any claims by third parties in connection with the rights referred to in Item 4 Paragraph 1, including the reasonable costs of the necessary legal defense such as, in particular, attorney's fees and court costs.

 

  1. 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.

By presenting our respective festival edition on the website, you agree to the indefinite storage and use of the photographic material and trailer in our archive on the website.

 

  1. 6. Screening format

The following exhibition formats are required:

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

 

  1. 7. Submission fee

Due to the large number of projects submitted and the high processing costs, we are obliged to charge a processing fee of 40.00 euros per submission.
A list of countries exempt from the fee can be found here and in our online form. For the exemption of the submission fee, the country of production is decisive, not the filming location! 

Submissions for DOK.education, the Student Award, the all inclusive Award, the VFF Documentary Production Award, the VFF Documentary Production Talent Award and the German Documentary Film Music Award are exempt from paying the submission fee. Please note the applicable submission guidelines.

 

  1. 8. Steps to film submission

Film submissions are made via our website under „My Account”.

  • If you are submitting a film for the first time and do not yet have a user account with us, please register here by creating an account.
  • If you already have an account, you can log in at our website at any time and submit a new film. In case you have forgotten your password, you can request a new one via 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 "Submit a film" (top right) to start your submission.

Please fill in the online form completely (including online screening link – a rough cut is sufficient). Please enter correct and, if possible, complete information about the submitted film, as we will work with the information when selecting the film for our programme. The information you provide will be included in our programme booklet as well as on our website.

  • For the free submission for DOK.education, please select "DOK.education school programme" under "Registration for".
  • For the free submission for the Student Award, please select "Student Award" under "Registration for".
  • For the free submission for the all inclusive Award, please select "all inclusive Documentary Film Award" 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 and/or the VFF Documentary Film Production Talent Award (submission is also free of charge for these awards), you must submit it separately for the respective programme section. Please select "German Documentary Film Music Award", "VFF Documentary Film Production Award" or "VFF Documentary Film Production Talent Award" under "Registration for".

Payment of the submission fee can be made directly in your user account. You will receive a payment request by e-mail after your submission has been checked. The terms and conditions of the respective payment service provider apply.

Upon receipt of your complete film submission (including a working preview link!) as well as 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.

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 print material sent in unfortunately cannot be returned.

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    1. 9. Screening fees

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. There is also the opportunity to win a prize in the cross-sectional competitions (DOK.international, DOK.deutsch, DOK.horizonte, Student Award, DOK.fest Award of SOS Kinderdörfer weltweit, German Documentary Film Music Award, DOK.edit Award, all inclusive Award, VFF Documentary Production Award, VFF Documentary Production Talent Award and kinokino Audience Award). There are no claims to the assumption of costs or to any other form of remuneration.

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    1. 10. 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.

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    1. 10. 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.

 

Contact

If you have any questions about the regulations and the submission, please contact:

Veronica Loebner, loebner@dokfest-muenchen.de
Phone: +49 (0)89 – 51 39 97 88

DOK.fest München
Dachauer Straße 116
80636 Munich
Germany