19/09/2024 - The event will showcase ten titles in the main competition, alongside events aimed at non-fiction and media professionals, including the d’Hub platform for impact strategies

Today, Dokumentale, a brand-new international film and media festival based in Berlin, unveiled the full programme of its inaugural edition. The event will run in the German capital from 10-20 October.

The main competition will showcase ten films – including eight German premieres and one international premiere – which will vie for the top prize, worth €20,000. The award will be handed out by an international jury consisting of Marie Erbs Ørbæk, of CPH:DOX; Mara Prohaska Marković, of Beldocs; and Hollywoodgate [+see also:
film review
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film profile] director Ibrahim Nash'at. Of the total prize money, €10,000 will be received directly by the filmmakers, while the other half will go towards supporting marketing efforts around the film’s release. By doing so, Dokumentale aims to contribute to the sustainable distribution of documentary films.

This year’s competition programme tackles major themes such as empowerment, climate change and the conservation of nature. Jalena Keane-Lees’ Standing Above the Clouds (USA) and Yintah by Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano and Jennifer Wickham (Canada) portray indigenous activists fighting against environmental destruction. Katarina Stankovic’s The Tempest of Neptun (Serbia) questions the limits of tourism. In Searching for Amani (USA/Kenya), Debra Aroko and Nicole Gormley investigate the mysterious death of a tour guide in Kenya, exploring the troubling connection between colonial legacy and climate change.

In My Sextortion Diary [+see also:
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film profile] (Spain), Patricia Franquesa deals with the aftermath of a sexualised hacking attack, which led to the circulation of her nude photos. Santiago Maza's State of Silence (Mexico) showcases impressive individuals advocating for press freedom amidst Mexican drug cartels and corruption. The Friendship Bench by Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt (South Africa) focuses on a different kind of activism: in Zimbabwe, where there is a shortage of psychologists, grandmothers are trained to sit on “friendship benches” to talk and listen to people in need.

Art also plays a prominent role in the festival. In New Wave (USA), Elisabeth Ai examines the role that New Wave music played for Vietnamese refugees in the USA in the 1980s. Lucija Stojevic’s Pepi Fandango [+see also:
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interview: Lucija Stojević
film profile] (Spain) tells the story of Holocaust survivor and musician Peter Pérez, who embarks on a search for the music that has given him life force since the Third Reich: the fandango, a variation of flamenco. DW Young’s Uncropped (USA) pays tribute to legendary photographer James Hamilton and his work.

This year’s festival includes over 120 film screenings and events. Among other highlights, the D'Lounge series features six film screenings taking place in unique locations across Berlin. Filmmaker Elisabeth Ai will present her competition entry New Wave at the DASHI Canteen, where she will also DJ afterwards. Another D'Lounge presentation will feature Barbara Visser’s film Alreadymade (Netherlands), which looks at Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain and questions its authorship. This will take place at the Berlinische Galerie.

One of the eight D’Salons – readings paired with discussions and film screenings – will focus on club culture: with Aaron Trinder’s Free Party: A Folk History (UK), the festival will not only tell the story of the British underground movement and rave culture that emerged in the late 1980s, but will also invite Spiral Tribe artist Mark Angelo Harrison to read excerpts from his book A Darker Electricity: The Origins of the Spiral Tribe Soundsystem. Furthermore, another D'Salon event will focus on science and ethical questions, with Kerstin Hoppenhaus presenting her book Die Salze der Erde, while Hans Dortmans will explore the enigmatic eel in his documentary Hidden Dance of Eels (Netherlands).

Moreover, attendees will also be able to enjoy some further non-fiction hits, including Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat [+see also:
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interview: Johan Grimonprez
film profile] (Belgium/France/Netherlands), Daniel McCabe’s Grasshopper Republic (USA), Pau Faus’ Fauna [+see also:
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interview: Pau Faus and Sergi Cameron
film profile] (Spain), Dragan Jovićević’s Warm Film [+see also:
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film profile] (Serbia), Anke Sterneborg and Irene Höfer’s Iris (Germany), and Ibrahim Nash'at’s aforementioned Hollywood Gate (Germany/USA).

From 14-16 October, Dokumentale will also host d'Hub, a hybrid platform offering panels and workshops exclusively for professionals. The flagship project of d'Hub is The Good Media Pitch, during which six teams will pitch impact strategies that they have developed over recent months with international experts as part of The Good Media Lab. These strategies, set to be implemented in areas such as digital and non-digital campaigns, acquisition and distribution, aim to increase the films’ reach and to drive societal transformations.

In addition to the pitch event unfolding on 15 October, d'Hub will offer a diverse programme of discussions and workshops on 14 and 16 October, set to cover the ethical implications of documentary storytelling as well as future industry trends.

Accreditations for professionals are now available. You can find out more by clicking here.