The 41st DOK.fest Munich – under the direction of Adele Kohout for the first time – was a great success. Cinemas and special venues attracted significantly more visitors than last year: around 40,500 members of the public and guests attended the numerous screenings, the events organised by the industry platform DOK.forum, and the educational programme DOK.education. That is 4,500 more than last year.

This figure already includes the audience for the closing night screening, which takes place this evening at the City-Kinos: the world premiere of the closing film SPORTFREUNDE STILLER – MIT DEM HERZ IN DER HAND is sold out. The most-watched films of the festival were INGEBORG BACHMANN – JEMAND, DER EINMAL ICH WAR, WATCHING PEOPLE WATCHING BIRDS, FINDING CONNECTION, MATERIA PRIMA and HELENE WEIGEL – REVOLUTIONÄRIN IM RAMPENLICHT. 

The VR Pop-Up Cinema in the Futuro House was also significantly more successful than last year. In total, around 1,600 visitors experienced the immersive works DANCE DANCE DANCE – MATISSE, BELONGING, SPACE-TIME LAYERING, BEYOND MY SKIN, INSIDER-OUTSIDER and OUT OF NOWHERE, EXPERIENCING THE CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE. Visitor numbers were around 40 per cent higher than last year. The six experiences were fully booked at almost all times.

Festival director Adele Kohout: “We are delighted that this year’s festival has been such a resounding success. Many guests spoke enthusiastically about the films, and the atmosphere was electric. The cinema remains the best place to watch films, and these artistically crafted, socially relevant documentaries have reached a wide audience: for the first time since the pandemic, numerous screenings were sold out.The further development of the programme structure, featuring signature films, was very well received, and the FokusTalks provided real added value for our audience. The supporting programme accompanying the films was also enthusiastically received by guests, whether it was the new music performed by members of the Ensemble Modern or the hard rock that followed the WACKEN film. A particular highlight was the meeting between the global star Wim Wenders and the prominent African director King Ampaw, both alumni of the first intake at the HFF Munich. It was wonderful to see people coming together at DOK.fest Munich to enjoy cinema together – often in ways that go far beyond the films themselves. At the same time, we can see just how important the digital edition of the festival continues to be. After all, it reaches people who would otherwise have no access to these films and topics."

Around 80 per cent of the films will remain available online until Whit Monday, 25 May (at dokfest-muenchen.de). We will share the final figures for the 41st DOK.fest München with you shortly.