34th DOK.fest München - the résumé

The DOK.fest Munich 2019 ended with a new record: 52,400 viewers attended the largest documentary film festival in Germany. Last year's record of 45,500 visitors was far exceeded.

"More and more people want to see these outstanding films, many of which are only shown at our festival. We are delighted that the appeal and popularity of the DOK.fest München continues to grow," says festival director Daniel Sponsel. "Munich now has two major film festivals. In view of our still very tight budget, this is an achievement of which our committed team can be proud. And we want to continue this development together with our partners."

The audience saw 159 films from 51 countries at the DOK.fest Munich, more than two thirds of them in world or German premieres. Around two thirds of the films were directed by directors, producers or other participants and were the subject of intensive discussions with interested audiences. The GANZ GROSSES KINO series at Deutsches Theater was also even more successful than in the previous year. "To show cinema documentaries in the glamorous setting of this great hall: This is becoming more and more popular with the viewers." says Sponsel.

DOK.forum, the industry platform

The importance of the festival has also grown noticeably within the international film industry: 2,500 filmmakers from all over the world took part in the industry platform DOK.forum. Not only do the panels and workshops have more and more viewers every year, but the co-production and ideas market DOK.forum marketplace is also becoming increasingly relevant for the film industry. Highlights of this year's programme were the BEYOND THE IMAGES camera days, a conference on digitisation and pitches on the theme of "Look who's watching: The Documentary Audience".

DOK.education, the programme for children and youth

DOK.education, the children and youth programme of DOK.fest, was also a great success and had over 2,300 visitors. 78 classes from the greater Munich area took part in the school programme - more than ever before. The "Kinderkino" program, which is open to all families and takes place in cooperation with Kinderkino München e.V., was also very well received: at the film premiere of WARUM ICH HIER BIN, a documentary film for the whole family, directors Mieko Azuma and Susanne Mi-Son Quester reported in the sold-out Carl-Amery Hall in the Gasteig how a documentary film is made. At the Media Competence Day, a model project was presented to 300 pupils.innen that shows how digital media can be used in lessons on curriculum-relevant topics.