DOK Leipzig, the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, was founded in 1955 and is one of the leading international documentary film festivals and the oldest in the world.

Unrivalled as a place of encounters between filmmakers from East and West during the Cold War, DOK Leipzig developed into one of the most dynamic festivals for documentary and animation filmmakers since the fall of the Berlin wall, due to the quality of its programming. Today it is both, a highly popular festival for the general audience and the annual meeting place for the German and international documentary film industry.

The Leipzig festival has a tradition of presenting films that take a stand for peace and human dignity. On the backdrop of its eventful history, the festival celebrates the freedom of the mind, freedom of expression and the carefully chosen image. High artistic quality, outstanding narrative skills, a critical eye, precise observation, an awareness of history and the exploration of the "memory of images" are the elements that make up its diversity and character.

The official festival programme comprises of five competitive sections (with awards amounting to 79,000 €) and a rich international programme. In addition, DOK Leipzig offers an annual retrospective, attractive special programmes, homages, workshops and master classes with famous film-makers.

Thanks to its excellent DOK Industry offers, Leipzig has become a leading meeting place for the non-fiction industry. Every year the digital DOK Market with 300 pre-selected new international documentaries, the International DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting, the Leipzig Screenings of new German documentaries for international buyers, the 'Wild at Heart' think tank as well as DOK Summit panel discussions and DOK Podiums draw 1,500 professionals from all over the world to DOK Leipzig. Since 2010, DOK Leipzig has also been active in vocational training by offering workshops and networking events in the field of cross media, by co-launching the highly successful DOK.Incubator rough-cut workshop and by connecting documentary and animation filmmakers.

The 56th edition of DOK Leipzig will take place from 28th October till 3rd November 2013.