Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München
The International Documentary Film Festival Munich (Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München – short DOK.fest München) has been held annually in Munich, Germany since 1985. Since 2001 it has been organized by "Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München e. V." (International Documentary Film Festival Munich Association) together with the "Filmstadt München" association. The festival focusses on socially relevant and artistically valuable documentary films. "DOK.fest München" also includes the industry platform and think tank "DOK.forum," the educational programme "DOK.education," the "Student Award", the Africa focus "DOK.network Africa", the year-round programme "DOK.aroundtheclock" as well as the touring festival "DOK.tour Bayern". The executive and artistic director  is Daniel Sponsel, and the deputy director is Adele Kohout. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 festival took place exclusively online, with part of the proceeds benefiting the usually participating cinemas and a record attendance of more than 75,000 viewers. This makes "DOK.fest München" one of the largest documentary film festivals in Europe. In 2021, the festival also moved to the digital space and presented 131 films from 43 countries, seen by over 71,000 viewers, from 6 to 23 May 2021. The 37th "DOK.fest München" will take place from 4 to 15 May 2022. History. The establishment of the  DOK.fest München goes back to the initiative of the Bavarian section of the (AG DOK) Munich. AG DOK had the goal of making documentary films available to a wider audience. In cooperation with the Association Film Studio Munich, an association of local film initiatives, the first International Documentary Film Festival Munich was organized in 1985. The city of Munich supported the festival. AGudrun Geyer was appointed director, and led the festival until 2001. Following the resignation of Gudrun Geyer in 2001, Hermann Barth took over the task on behalf of the newly founded International Documentary Film Festival Munich Association e. V., to profile the festival in Munich, the rest of Germany, and worldwide. Since 2002 the festival operates under the brand name "DOK.fest" with an expanded programme. Hermann Barth resigned in 2009. Daniel Sponsel took over the management and was supported at the beginning by Christian Pfeil. Sponsel extended the programme to include the German competition "DOK.deutsch", the guest series "DOK.guest", the retrospective and "DOK.education", the educational programme. He also created the platform "DOK.forum" in 2011. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a new conception of the festival as "DOK.fest München @home". In the online edition there were daily award  ceremonies, events and live online discussions with filmmakers in addition to the documentary films. The industry platform "DOK.forum" also moved the planned workshops, pitches and discussion rounds into the digital space. For school classes, the film literacy section "DOK.education" offered free viewing links with teaching units for three age levels after the appropriate registration. In 2021, the second online edition of the festival took place. Series and prizes. The festival me of "DOK.fest München" is divided into "competitions", "theme series" and "specials". At the festival a selection of current international documentaries at least 52 minutes long are shown. In the  competitions, premieres are given special consideration. The 16 awards of the festival are endowed with prize money worth €64,200. In the three main competition areas, the VIKTOR is awarded. The VIKTOR Main Competition DOK.international is the main prize of the festival. ARRI AMIRA Award. Since 2020 the prize has no longer been awarded. FairFilmAward Non-Fiction. Since 2020 the prize has no longer been awarded. DOK.education – educational programme. The film literacy section "DOK.education" started in 2011 as the youth section of "DOK.fest München" and was aimed at a young audience aged 8 to 18. In 2013, filmmaker Maya Reichert  took over the management and reorientation. The programme was expanded into a year-round pedagogical programme due to the increased focus on adult education in 2018. The aim of the programme is film education, media literacy and cultural education at the extracurricular learning venue of the cinema, in the classroom and, since 2020, online. For schools. The "School of Seeing" (formerly: Documentary Film School) for school classes offers film screenings accompanied by media education and discussions with filmmakers. The focus is on short professional documentaries from the lives of children and young people. In the School of Seeing, participants learn  to differentiate how they see films and are motivated to apply this to their own everyday media use in order to become critical and self-confident media users. For each curated film, a team of film experts creates accompanying school material for teachers. The programme went online in 2020 due to the pandemic and expanded its user base nationwide. In 2021, three online cinema rooms with 12 digital lessons for distance learning and classroom use were available to school classes. For teachers, "DOK.education" offers year-round media education training in cooperation with certifying training academies. With the European film education  platform LEARNING BY DOCS young people experience European reality of life in the 20th century through documentary films. Together with two European documentary film festivals, "DOK.education" supports film and European education in the classroom across national borders. For young people. In the year-round educational programme, practical workshops for children, young people, film groups and school classes are offered throughout Bavaria in a face-to-face setting and also online since 2020 in order to learn how to make films or read film as an artistic medium. "DOK.education" has awarded annual prizes in the Bavaria-wide youth film competition for  documentary films by children, adolescents and young adults since 2015 with the aim of encouraging practical filmmaking and artistic expression in the documentary genre. The label "DOK.4teens" identifies films in the festival programme that are officially released for audiences aged 14 and over. For the regular programme the usual age rating of 18 and over applies. DOK.forum – industry platform. "DOK.forum" sees itself as a think tank for the documentary film industry and as a platform for projects in the development process. Since 2011 "DOK.forum" has taken place at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München and in recent years has  established itself as a permanent meeting place for the German-speaking industry – with a growing range of offerings for international filmmakers. In 2020, the industry programme took place exclusively online. The programme is divided into two segments: Public events: DOK.forum Perspectives. In panel discussions, workshops and case studies, the "DOK.forum" Perspectives take a look at the developments in documentary work and invite you to develop visions and impulses and explore relevant media policy issues. The public events are aimed both at the industry and the interested festival audience. Coproduction and ideas market: DOK.forum Marketplace. The marketplace offers filmmakers the opportunity  to meet editors and producers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol at moderated roundtables and present their concepts. The best student pitch concept is awarded the Pitch Award of Haus des Dokumentarfilms. Virtual Reality Pop Up Cinema. Since 2017, "DOK.fest München" has been presenting a selection of international documentary 360° and VR experiences parallel to the festival in May in the Futuro exhibition house in front of the Pinakothek der Moderne. DOK.tour Bayern. "DOK.tour Bayern" has been bringing selected films from the current festival year to the cinemas of the Bavarian region since 2011. In 2019 the "DOK.tour  toured 18 cities throughout Bavaria between October and December with five documentaries. In 2020, the DOK.tour took place on three weekends before Christmas with three films on the digital screen.