Editor

53rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

18.10.- 24.10.2010

 DOK Leipzig 2010 Sets New Attendance Record

Packed cinemas, fantastic audiences and exciting discussions

The 53rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film has come to an end with a

new attendance record. 35,000 visitors watched 346 films in 12 cinemas. Which is an even higher

result compared to last year's attendance record. This is even more remarkable as there were 18

screenings less than in 2009. Festival director Claas Danielsen was delighted about the great interest

shown in artistic documentary and animated film: "Our cinemas were never this full. I'm especially

excited that remarkably young audiences watched complex films with great attention and later

discussed the films energetically. While television stations are complaining about the disinterest young

viewers show in their programmes, young people have been packing our cinemas to see the very films

that the TV schedulers are only willing to show (if at all) at obscure hours of the night."

DOK Industry - One of the Most Important Industry Events

With 1,421 accredited professional visitors yet another record has been set. This is a sign that the

DOK Industry events and meetings are becoming increasingly important for film makers, commissioning

editors, documentary producers and TV buyers from all over the world. This year the digital DOK Markt

saw especially intensive use during the festival. Films were accessed a total of 4,617 times. For the

Documentary Campus Masterschool pitching event commissioning editors from the most important

stations worldwide came to Leipzig to discover exciting and innovative documentary film projects for an

international audience. Cross media, crowd funding, distribution and social media marketing - these

were the catchwords that DOK Leipzig explored at a number of discussion events. "Our international

professional guests were enthusiastic about the high quality of the expert panels. All the new events

that we have been developing over the last six years as part of the festival have now come together

perfectly to make DOK Leipzig once again one of the best documentary film festivals worldwide,"

summarized festival director Claas Danielsen.

PRESSEMITTEILUNG PRESS RELEASE

53. Internationales Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar- und Animationsfilm

53rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

18.10.- 24.10.2010

Press release #17/2010 25 October 2010

GESCHÄFTSFÜHRER/

FESTIVALDIREKTOR

Claas Danielsen

VERWALTUNGSLEITERIN

Christiane Wilhelm

ERFÜLLUNGSORT,

GERICHTSSTAND

Leipzig

HANDELSREGISTER

Amtsgericht Leipzig

HRB 35 89

BANKVERBINDUNG

HypoVereinsbank Leipzig

Kto.: 5 080 281 600

BLZ: 860 200 86

STEUERNUMMER

231/124/00257

VERANSTALTER

Leipziger DOK-Filmwochen GmbH

Große Fleischergasse 11, D-04109 Leipzig

Tel.: +49 (0)341 30664-0

Fax: +49 (0)341 30864-15

E-Mail: info@dok-leipzig.de

www.dok-leipzig.de

DOK Discussions: Exciting and Controversial

In his opening speech for the Leipzig Forum on Innovative Non-fiction Television ARTE President Dr.

Gottfried Langenstein gave professional visitors fascinating insights on the future of the medium. He

predicts that in Europe television and internet will only merge with the help of more powerful cable

networks and larger band widths so that viewers can easily access internet and television with a single

device. In the few years remaining until that happens public television stations have to establish

themselves as leading brands, since there will only be three or four stations in every country that

viewers will primarily use in the future.

Especially controversial was the discussion about the future of German film funding. In celebration of

its 30th anniversary, the German Documentary Association AG DOK came together with DOK Leipzig

to invite prominent representatives of German film and media subsidies to discuss the future of film

subsidization in Germany. The event was held as part of GERMAN DAY. From the podium it was said

that documentary film producers had "lost sovereignty over film" and it was time to "slaughter a few

sacred cows." The influence of television on film funding decisions could only be prevented if television

stations no longer contributed financially to the subsidies. The money saved should then be made

available to commissioning editors for the acquisition and licensing of documentary films. Public

television stations should be legally required to reserve a certain percentage of their programming for

documentary films. How much television stations spend on documentaries could be precisely

calculated, for example 3.5% of the 7 billion euros that are collected in fees would be 245 million euros.

The competition between internet providers is much more fierce than it is between television stations.

Companies like Microsoft, Google or Apple have the potential to analyze the behaviour of their users

very precisely and to then generate large profits with customized and local advertising. In addition

thanks to intelligent and effective strategies these companies have already shored up comprehensive

rights to image databases, music and films. For this reason it is essential that Europeans shore up the

digital rights to their cultural products. The public system can only survive if it wins the public's trust by

means of great creativity, high quality programming and state-of-the-art, high definition transmission.