Editor

"Doc Alliance" brings five important European festivals together that will jointly support the feature-length, innovative documentary film with a new form of co-operation. DOK Leipzig, Visions du Réel (Nyon), Planete Doc Review (Warsaw), International Documentary Film Festival of Jihlava (Czech Republic) and CPH: DOX (Copenhagen) are going to select an outstanding film once a year which distinguishes itself by a unique and individual style as well as by a novel perspective on reality. The five productions, which are to be presented at all the festivals involved, will thus receive extraordinary attention and support for their distribution at international level. Not only is "Doc Alliance" offering each selected film five chances to be screened before large audiences, it can also convince potential distribution partners and representatives of the film industry.

At the end of the festival cycle, an international Jury will choose the winner of the "Doc Alliance Prize" which will be awarded to one of the five films during one of the participating festivals. „We urgently need new initiatives and forms of co-operation, in order to gain more publicity for extraordinary and artistically outstanding documentary film productions and to encourage filmmakers to take risks as well as to follow their visions. The documentary film that displays the distinct individuality of its author has become a threatened species in times of commercialising and formatting public-law television. Taking a stance in such a situation, surprising the public with daring and demanding films and provoking discussions among people has become a major job for us as festival organizers“, says Claas Danielsen, the DOK Leipzig Festival Director, in answer to the question why "Doc Alliance" has been set up.

"Doc Alliance" was launched during the "Visions du Réel" Festival at Nyon/Switzerland (17–23 April 2008), with DOK Leipzig entering the Russian/Swiss co-production "The Mother" by Pavel Kostomarov and Antoine Cattin. The film, screened in the International Competition of DOK Leipzig 2007, won the MDR Prize worth 3 000 Euro for an outstanding East-European documentary film.

Claas Danielsen introduced the "Doc Alliance" initiative jointly with the directors of the other festivals involved during the Visions du Réel in Nyon on 20 April. Besides, DOK Leipzig presented itself at "Visions du Réel" with documentary films that have been screened in the competition and other programme sections of the festival as well as at the "Doc Outlook" film market, where DOK Leipzig has entered 18 topical German productions.