DOK.forum 2026 was by far the most successful edition of DOK.fest München’s industry platform to date. The pitch sessions, panels, workshops, case studies, roundtables and receptions attracted a total of just under 3,500 participants – 1,300 more than the previous year. TheDCampus Exchange @DOK.forum conference and the two-day conference ‘Film Education Today – Visibility, Profession, Future’ were particularly successful.
The Master’s Pitch was extremely well attended, with over 160 industry guests: seven outstanding projects with great international potential were presented here. During the one-to-one meetings, 350 face-to-face meetings took place between industry guests, significantly more than the previous year. This created the best possible conditions for participants at the DOK.forum Marketplace to meet potential partners and move closer to realising their projects.
Julia Zantl (Head of DOK.forum): "DOK.forum 2026 was a resounding success and a powerful testament to the relevance, innovative strength and immense appeal of documentary formats. The pitch sessions impressed with their extraordinary creative and emotional power and were met with a correspondingly strong response from the experts. The DOK.forum Perspectives also lived up to this year’s motto, ‘Trust, Truth and Change’, in every respect, with relevant panels, inspiring workshops, the 2nd Munich Film Summit and the first Film Education Conference. The first DCampus Exchange @DOK.forum was a successful and very inspiring launch for our pioneering digital hub, which we intend to establish on a sustainable basis and expand further in the future.”
At the DOK.forum Marketplace, four prize-winning pitch competitions took place for documentary film projects in development and documentary storytelling formats, with prize money totalling 10,000 euros. Further mentoring and festival awards were also presented.
These are the winners of DOK.forum 2026:
DOK.digital – Award for New Narrative Formats
UNHOME VR – SURVIVING ON THE STREETS Henning Westerwelle
DOK.digital, the award for new narrative formats, recognises innovative approaches to presenting documentary or journalistic content. It is endowed with 2,500 euros and is sponsored by the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM). This year, the award goes to UNHOME VR – SURVIVING ON THE STREETS by Henning Westerwelle. This project allows viewers to immerse themselves in a reality that is alien to most of us: life on the streets.
From the jury’s statement:“It’s rare when a project has it all. It stood out to us among an impressive group of works, as it combines an effective and thoughtful use of the medium into a complete package. Especially in a time in which technology often feels like it divides us, this work uses it to drive empathy. Its conscious combination of interaction design, ethical co-creation and an effective narrative puts a spotlight onto a topic which is often overlooked. The embodied experience becomes transformative beyond virtual reality.”
The jury consisted of Dana Melaver (DOK Neuland, DOK Leipzig), Deborah Reinmüller (Project Coordinator for Immersive Media, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein), Katharina Schulz (Advisor at the Bavarian State Office for New Media), Benjamin Seuffert (Team Lead Digital Theatre, Augsburg State Theatre) and Manuel Steitz (Managing Director, Wunderkammer).
DOK.archive Award
THE CHEF SUFFRAGETTE Magdalena Szymków (Regie), Małgorzata Prociak (Produktion)
The DOK.archive Award is a grant for archive and compilation films in development or the early production phase. With the DOK.archive Award, British Pathé and DOK.forum aim to support projects that work with licensed material, thereby strengthening this long-established documentary genre. The winning project will receive British Pathé archive material worth 22,500 euros or, alternatively, 2,500 euros in cash.
The winning project, THE CHEF SUFFRAGETTE, tells the story of the suffragettes and a rebellious chef – a colourful woman in 19th-century Poland who takes viewers on a culinary journey through the history of the struggle for women’s independence.
From the jury’s statement:“The jury decided to award a project which showed strong, poetic and creative storytelling, by creating a new perspective on a part of history that has been overlooked. The artistic approach of blending food with the life cycle of women provided a unique take on the historical fight for their place in society, which urgently resonates with today. We see the opportunity of a 360 degree impact and the possibility of expanding the film in various forms of media which reaches different audiences. ”
The jury consisted of Thomas Beyer (Commissioning Editor, MDR Department of History and Documentaries), Elizabeth Bowley (Newsreel Archive, British Pathé), Andrea Bräu (Documentary Editorial Team, Bayerischer Rundfunk), Leonard Cortana (Inclusion Programme and Strategic Partnerships Manager, EURODOC) and Emanuel Rotstein (Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland GmbH).
DOK.composition Award
REIHENHAUS REVISITED / VISIONS FOR THE SUBURBS Matthias Petsche (composition), Michaela Kirst, Lilian Franck and Dirk Lütter (direction)
The DOK.composition Award recognises the musical concept of a documentary film currently in production: To strengthen artistic collaboration between filmmakers and composers, the best musical concept is awarded 2,500 euros. The prize is sponsored by Sonoton Music and supported by the German Composers’ Association’s Promotion and Assistance Fund.
The winner is REIHENHAUS REVISITED / VISIONS FOR THE SUBURBS: Many of us grew up in detached houses that embody both a sense of security and a quiet fragility. This film reflects on housing as a social construct and reimagines it as a shared resource. In doing so, it explores how we might live in a more communal, equitable way that is in harmony with the climate crisis.
From the jury’s statement: “The rustling of the row houses forms the grain of an acoustic landscape. It is populated with collective memories, echoes of suburbia, and pressing questions about the future of our cities and the sustainable organization of our living spaces. Through its polyrhythmic structure and use of acoustic instruments and field recordings, the score reflects the overlap of different layers of time – a dialogue between past and present, memory and transformation.”
The jury consisted of Victor Gangl (film composer), Dominik Giesriegel (film composer), Yulia Lokshina (director), Anke Petersen (managing director, producer, Jyoti Film GmbH) and Mirjam Skal (film composer).
DOK.talent Award
KAULQUAPPEN Rosa Gocht (Director), Felipa Goltz (Producer)
The DOK.talent Award recognises a student project: The pitch competition, which is endowed with 2,500 euros and sponsored by SÜDKINO Filmproduktion, offers students from our partner universities the opportunity to further develop their current projects through dialogue with editors, producers and distributors, and to secure new funding partners.
The award goes to the project KAULQUAPPEN by Rosa Gocht and Felipa Goltz. In it, Carla and Rosa explore the universe they created together as children. In a hybrid documentary, they grapple with memories of the intimacy and interdependence of their girlhood friendship, as well as their burgeoning sexuality and the magical yet destructive power of their thoughts, which still accompany them to this day.
From the jury’s statement:“In a truly impressive way, the filmmaker succeeds in drawing us into the world of a unique teenage friendship – a relationship that is both life-saving and traumatic. A subject that, even in the pitch, offers us a rich emotional palette: sad, funny, curious, even a little bit gross, but above all very intense and urgent. Rarely have we seen puberty portrayed in such an unusual and self-assured way.”
The jury consisted of Jutta Feit (jip film & verleih), Ingo Fliess (if... productions), Christine Haupt (Funding Officer, FFF Bayern), Peter Jaeger (CEO Jaeger Creative), Frauke Knappke (Acquisitions & Festival Manager, Magnetfilm GmbH), Jutta Krug (Editor, Documentary Department, WDR), Natalie Lambsdorff (Editor, BR), Michael Meister (Editor, ORF, Kultur-TV), Alex Tondowski (Producer, Tondowski Films), Marcus Vetter (Commissioning Editor, SWR, Young Documentary Film), Ralph Wieser (Producer, Mischief Films) and Jakob Zimmermann (Editor, ZDF/Das Kleine Fernsehspiel).
Further Awards
Impronta Films Award NEVER MOVE BACKWARDS Alexandra Tahereh Kaucher (Director), Michael LaPointe (Producer)
Impronta Films Award Roundtables SECURITY Lisa Polster (Director), Rebecca Fuxen (Producer)
Both awards each comprise of four individual consultation sessions for a project in the early stages of development. The awards recognise two outstanding projects that were pitched at the DOK.forum Marketplace.
FIPADOC Award THE ABSENCE OF 1 Varduhi Balyan (Director), Beste Yamalıoğlu (Producer).
The prize consists of free registration for the co-production forum and two free professional visitor passes to the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels (FIPADOC) in Biarritz.
DAE Talent Encouragement Award KEINEM SEIN LAND / GERMAN DIASPORA David-Simon Groß
The DAE Talent Encouragement Award will be presented to one of the participants in the Marketplace. It comes with a 60-minute consultation with industry experts from the DAE – Documentary Association of Europe.
All dates at a glance:
Saturday, 16 May 2026: Award ceremony (by invitation)
Monday, 18 May 2026: Closing ceremony of the 41st DOK.fest Munich (by invitation)
