Festival Description

The International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film – in short: DOK Leipzig – is an annual festival for documentary and animated films. The festival is sponsored and organized by the city of Leipzig. It commissions the non-profit Leipzig-based DOK-Filmwochen GmbH with the preparation, implementation and management of the festival.

2026 DOK Leipzig Coverage

The 2026 programme explores animation across a wide range of styles and formats. “Animation Perspectives #8” brings together filmmakers Franz Impler and Anton Cla, whose work draws on gaming aesthetics, unusual spaces and questions of personal agency. Meanwhile, “Animation Night: Outta Space” takes audiences on a journey through experimental representations of outer space, spanning works from 1966 to 2026 and culminating in the live “film concert” Proyecciones Cósmicas. The festival also honors Norwegian studio Trollfilm, known for handcrafted multiplane cut-out animation that combines magical storytelling with serious subjects such as war, trauma and domestic violence.

The DOK Industry programme puts animation at the centre of several specific events. “Adult Animation in Europe” brings creators, producers and experts together to discuss the current state and future of adult animation, while “From the Niche into the Spotlight” focuses on improving the visibility of European animated films. “KEY FRAMES 2026: Animation erzählt Gegenwart” examines a funding programme that supported seven animated shorts addressing contemporary social issues, and “Industry Connections: Animation Meets Doc” directly connects animators with documentary filmmakers interested in animation techniques. The three-day Animation Lab DOK Leipzig also supports producers developing their first animated documentaries; the three-day workshop for producers working on their first animated documentaries is headed by experienced producer Jean-François Le Corre (Vivement Lundi!) and the multidisciplinary artist Uri Kranot (Tindrum). While projects presented through DOK Exchange demonstrate how animation is being applied to interactive and immersive work, including 3D and point-cloud animation and AI-assisted visual reconstruction.

is taking place for the fourth time already in collaboration with CEE Animation. T

DOK Leipzig Call for Entries

Eligibility criteria:

• The festival is open to documentary and animated films as well as animated documentaries and hybrid forms of documentary storytelling.
• Eligible are films of all lengths with a production year of 2025 or 2026 that have not been publicly screened before October 2026.
• Films up to 40 minutes qualify for the short film awards, films over 40 minutes are considered feature-length films

Categories:

The festival programme is organised into four competitions and other out-of-competition sections, whose films can be nominated for awards across all sections.

• International Competition Documentary Film 
  (documentary films of all lengths)
  World or International premieres preferred, European premiere is required. For films up to 40 minutes, at least a German premiere is required.
• International Competition Animated Film 
  (animated films of all lengths)
  At least a German premiere is required.
• German Competition Documentary Film 
  (documentary films of all lengths, (co-) produced in Germany)
  World premieres required, co-productions International premiere eligible.
• Audience Competition 
  (documentary and animated films over 40 min)
  At least a German premiere is required

• Entry Form
• Regulations
• Deadline: 1 July 2026