Documentary on Los Angeles Wildfires to Premiere at Dok Leipzig 2026 Festival

The 69th DOK Leipzig festival, to be held in Germany from October 26 to November 1, will bring film enthusiasts a large number of world premieres and debut feature films, including a production focusing on the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.

Festival Details and New Director

The 69th DOK Leipzig festival, running in Germany from October 26 to November 1, will host 30 world premieres and 29 debut feature films across four competitive sections focusing on Central and Eastern European cinema. Ola Staszel has taken over the festival directorship for this special 2026 edition.

International Documentary Competition

Among the nine different productions in the international documentary competition section are three world premieres and two international premieres. Within this scope, Lukas Marxt's '>1,5°C Pyropolitics And The New World', which documents the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, will also meet the audience.

In the same category, works by Asmahan Bkerat ('Concrete Land') and Ana Bovino ('The Nights') will compete alongside pieces by Helena Třeštíková, Andrei Kutsila, Hu Sanshou, Giuseppe Schillaci, Alain Kassanda, and Kamila Serwicka.

Animation and German Documentary Sections

The animation competition section will host five distinct works bearing the signatures of Chris Sullivan, Xun Sun, Erica Maradona, Tania Anaya, Otto Guerra, Sávio Leite, Kohei Kadowaki, and Pierre Hébert.

Seven out of the eight feature films in the German documentary film competition hold world premiere status. This section features works by names such as Haiguang Li, Janis Westphal, Julia Groteclaes, Jasmine Alakari, Konrad Schlaich, Tete Hoffmann, Peter Badel, Chris Wright, and Jonathan Omer Mizrahi.

Audience Competition and Voting Process

The audience competition category will showcase 10 feature-length works, including films by directors such as Victor Kossakovsky, Erik Shirai, Emil Langballe, and Dénes Nagy.

The production that will win the Golden Dove award for best feature-length documentary in the audience competition will be determined through an online voting method.