Internationales Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar- und Animationsfilm wrap
53rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
18.10.- 24.10.2010
DOK Leipzig 2010 Sets New Attendance Record
Packed cinemas, fantastic audiences and exciting discussions
The 53rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film has come to an end with a
new attendance record. 35,000 visitors watched 346 films in 12 cinemas. Which is an even higher
result compared to last year's attendance record. This is even more remarkable as there were 18
screenings less than in 2009. Festival director Claas Danielsen was delighted about the great interest
shown in artistic documentary and animated film: "Our cinemas were never this full. I'm especially
excited that remarkably young audiences watched complex films with great attention and later
discussed the films energetically. While television stations are complaining about the disinterest young
viewers show in their programmes, young people have been packing our cinemas to see the very films
that the TV schedulers are only willing to show (if at all) at obscure hours of the night."
DOK Industry - One of the Most Important Industry Events
With 1,421 accredited professional visitors yet another record has been set. This is a sign that the
DOK Industry events and meetings are becoming increasingly important for film makers, commissioning
editors, documentary producers and TV buyers from all over the world. This year the digital DOK Markt
saw especially intensive use during the festival. Films were accessed a total of 4,617 times. For the
Documentary Campus Masterschool pitching event commissioning editors from the most important
stations worldwide came to Leipzig to discover exciting and innovative documentary film projects for an
international audience. Cross media, crowd funding, distribution and social media marketing - these
were the catchwords that DOK Leipzig explored at a number of discussion events. "Our international
professional guests were enthusiastic about the high quality of the expert panels. All the new events
that we have been developing over the last six years as part of the festival have now come together
perfectly to make DOK Leipzig once again one of the best documentary film festivals worldwide,"
summarized festival director Claas Danielsen.
PRESSEMITTEILUNG PRESS RELEASE
53. Internationales Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar- und Animationsfilm
53rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
18.10.- 24.10.2010
Press release #17/2010 25 October 2010
GESCHÄFTSFÜHRER/
FESTIVALDIREKTOR
Claas Danielsen
VERWALTUNGSLEITERIN
Christiane Wilhelm
ERFÜLLUNGSORT,
GERICHTSSTAND
Leipzig
HANDELSREGISTER
Amtsgericht Leipzig
HRB 35 89
BANKVERBINDUNG
HypoVereinsbank Leipzig
Kto.: 5 080 281 600
BLZ: 860 200 86
STEUERNUMMER
231/124/00257
VERANSTALTER
Leipziger DOK-Filmwochen GmbH
Große Fleischergasse 11, D-04109 Leipzig
Tel.: +49 (0)341 30664-0
Fax: +49 (0)341 30864-15
E-Mail: info@dok-leipzig.de
DOK Discussions: Exciting and Controversial
In his opening speech for the Leipzig Forum on Innovative Non-fiction Television ARTE President Dr.
Gottfried Langenstein gave professional visitors fascinating insights on the future of the medium. He
predicts that in Europe television and internet will only merge with the help of more powerful cable
networks and larger band widths so that viewers can easily access internet and television with a single
device. In the few years remaining until that happens public television stations have to establish
themselves as leading brands, since there will only be three or four stations in every country that
viewers will primarily use in the future.
Especially controversial was the discussion about the future of German film funding. In celebration of
its 30th anniversary, the German Documentary Association AG DOK came together with DOK Leipzig
to invite prominent representatives of German film and media subsidies to discuss the future of film
subsidization in Germany. The event was held as part of GERMAN DAY. From the podium it was said
that documentary film producers had "lost sovereignty over film" and it was time to "slaughter a few
sacred cows." The influence of television on film funding decisions could only be prevented if television
stations no longer contributed financially to the subsidies. The money saved should then be made
available to commissioning editors for the acquisition and licensing of documentary films. Public
television stations should be legally required to reserve a certain percentage of their programming for
documentary films. How much television stations spend on documentaries could be precisely
calculated, for example 3.5% of the 7 billion euros that are collected in fees would be 245 million euros.
The competition between internet providers is much more fierce than it is between television stations.
Companies like Microsoft, Google or Apple have the potential to analyze the behaviour of their users
very precisely and to then generate large profits with customized and local advertising. In addition
thanks to intelligent and effective strategies these companies have already shored up comprehensive
rights to image databases, music and films. For this reason it is essential that Europeans shore up the
digital rights to their cultural products. The public system can only survive if it wins the public's trust by
means of great creativity, high quality programming and state-of-the-art, high definition transmission.
