🧡 BEST DOKS 💜
See the most-viewed and award-nominated documentaries of #dokfest2026 once again on Sunday, 17 May! 🙌
➡️ BEST DOKS programme & tickets: /Best-Doks-2026
Link in bio.
🏆 Announcing the winner of the kinokino Audience Award donated by @bayerischer_rundfunk & @3sat
WHEN PIGS FLY
by Denise Riedmayr (DE 2026)
Is the pig simply livestock — or something to love? And if pig hearts may soon be transplanted into humans, what new ethical questions arise? Set between university laboratories and animal sanctuaries, WHEN PIGS FLY explores the blurred boundaries between species with curiosity, sensitivity and surprising discoveries.
The kinokino Audience Award is endowed with €2,000 and donated by @bayerischer_rundfunk & @3sat and DOK.fest München. After each screening at DOK.fest München 2026, audiences were invited to rate the films via QR code voting.
#dokfest2026
🏆 Announcing the winner of the VIKTORIA DOK.international Main Competition donated by @bayerischer_rundfunk
THE NARRATIVE
by Bernard Weber & Martin Schilt (CH 2026)
Former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli was convicted over the loss of 2.3 billion dollars. But who was truly responsible? Reconstructing the trial through original court transcripts, THE NARRATIVE questions the dominant version of events and unfolds as a layered portrait of capitalism, systemic failure and the power of storytelling.
From the jury statement: "Our winning film is a masterclass in navigating the staggering complexity of truth. With a protagonist who is as likable as he is resilient, the filmmakers invite us into a story that is emotional 'like hell,' yet remarkably balanced by a sharp, necessary sense of humor. The film lays bare a profound systemic injustice, revealing the cold lack of responsibility and the layers of deception practiced by powerful banking institutions. At its core, the film is a searing indictment of how easily an individual can be turned into a scapegoat, highlighting a narrative of survival in the face of pervasive, everyday racism."
Jury: Heino Deckert, Jacqueline Nsiah, Per K. Kirkegaard
Prize: €10,000, donated by @bayerischer_rundfunk
#dokfest2026
🏆 Announcing the winner of the VIKTORIA DOK.horizonte Competition – Cinema of Urgency donated by @kelly_stiftung
UNWELCOMED
by Sebastián González & Amílcar Infante (CL 2025)
Somewhere in northern Chile, Venezuelan migrants are being hunted by a mob. After travelling thousands of kilometres, they arrive searching for work and dignity. Through a striking interplay of sweeping aerial shots and intimate close-ups, UNWELCOMED confronts us with the realities and contradictions of migration.
From the jury statement: "What distinguishes this film for us is the clarity of co-directors Sebastián Gonzaléz and Amílcar Infante’s formal decisions. Rather than following a single protagonist, they bring together a plurality of voices, allowing individual experiences to accumulate without collapsing them into a simplified narrative. This maintains scale, while a tension between distance and proximity shapes the viewing experience. Expansive aerial views hold us at a remove, while closer encounters introduce an immediacy that remains deliberately incomplete. Through this, the film does not simply depict migration, it renders its conditions tangible. This becomes particularly striking in sequences marked by acts of collective violence. The film forces the viewer to face what is otherwise difficult to hold."
Jury: Dario Oliveira, Susann Knießner, Susan Mbogo
Prize: €5,000, donated by the @kelly_stiftung
#dokfest2026
🏆 Announcing the winner of the VIKTORIA DOK.deutsch Competition donated by @skydeutschland
MEANWHILE IN NAMIBIAby Jonas Spriestersbach (DE, NA 2026)
Germany has officially acknowledged the genocide committed against the Ovaherero and Nama peoples in former German South West Africa — yet instead of reparations, development aid is offered. With striking visual precision, Jonas Spriestersbach exposes the enduring presence of structural inequality and racism.
From the jury statement: "We are deeply impressed by the director's perceptive camera work, which captures tourists watching the display of the Black population in pre-colonial costumes with unabashed racist and sexist gazes. We were stunned by the images and the actions and opinions they portray. The camera does not seem neutral, but the protagonists are presented as they present themselves. The subjects speak and act openly in front of the camera. The director skilfully underscores the unease the film rightly leaves us with further, when the camera at times permits a shift of perspective, where Namibians get to comment on the Germans' behavior and presentation. An intense and visually stunning film that lingers long after viewing."
Jury: Christa Auderlitzky, Inka Achté, Mira Bach Hansen
Prize: €7,500, donated by @sky_deutschland
#dokfest2026 #DOKdeutsch
✨ Special Mention by the Jury of the @megaherz.film Student Award
FIRST LAP CRASH
by Liam Erlach
Liam Erlach’s sister Amina is 21 years old and lives with an illness that can make even the smallest exertion overwhelming. While there is still no curative treatment, people affected are left searching for ways to ease the symptoms. In response, Liam created a film about — and for — his sister.
From the jury:
“The film succeeds in making an invisible world visible through rhythm, silence and radical reduction. Liam develops a distinctive visual language to express exhaustion, isolation and the fragility of everyday life.”
#dokfest2026 #megaherzStudentAward #SpecialMention
🏆 Announcing the winner of the @megaherz.film Student Award
WAS AN EMPFINDSAMKEIT BLEIBT by Daniela Magnani Hüller (DE 2026)
Fourteen years after surviving an attempted femicide, filmmaker Daniela Magnani Hüller returns to the people and moments that shaped her life forever. Through intimate conversations and a striking collage of visual material, the film explores memory, trauma and the long process of healing.
From the jury statement: "In SOMETIMES, I IMAGINE THEM ALL AT A PARTY Daniela Magnani Hüller succeeds in transforming a personal traumatic experience of male violence into a narrative that elevates her case to a societal level. Daniela compels us with a unique sharpness of vision without losing complexity or perspective, leading us to moments where we can laugh together at the absurdities she faces without taking away any gravity."
Jury: José Manuel Cahuantzi, Jura Branellec, Lissy Giglberger
Prize: €3,000, donated by megaherz
#dokfest2026 #megaherzStudentAward
✨ Throwback to this year’s African Encounters Special.
King Ampaw and Wim Wenders reunited at HFF, where they both studied back in 1967. They presented films from their student days and went into dialogue with current students Kokutekeleza Musebeni (HFF München) and Joanna Adu-Amoani (UniMAC-IFT).
This special event was initiated and curated by Jacqueline Nsiah, in collaboration with DOK.fest München (Barbara Off) and the University of Television and Film Munich (Elena Diesbach).
Thanks to everyone who joined! 🧡
🥊🌊 MUTTERSCHAFT IM PROFISPORT – ZWISCHEN WELTSPITZE UND FAMILIE
Im Anschluss an das Screening von I FOLLOW RIVERS sprechen wir über Frauen im Spitzensport, über Leistungsdruck, Körperbilder, Vereinbarkeit von Karriere und Familie — und darüber, welche strukturellen Herausforderungen Mütter im Profisport bis heute erleben.
Mit:
▪️Tina Rupprecht – Undisputed World Boxing Champion
▪️Melanie Dörfler – Spitzenkanutin & internationale Medaillengewinnerin
▪️Elisabeth Micheler-Jones – Olympiasiegerin im Kanuslalom
▪️Martina Ziegler – Koordinatorin für Gender Mainstreaming der Gleichstellungsstelle der Stadt Augsburg
🎬 I FOLLOW RIVERS📍 @liliomkinoaugsburg
Sonntag, 17. Mai, 20.00 Uhr
Wir freuen uns auf einen spannenden Austausch!
#DOKfest2026 #IFollowRivers
Regina Schilling über ihren Film INGEBORG BACHMANN – JEMAND, DER EINMAL ICH WAR.
Letztes Screening:
🔸 Sa., 16.05., 13.00, HFF - Kino 1
INGEBORG BACHMANN – JEMAND, DER EINMAL ICH WAR (DE, AT 2026)
„Es war Mord.“ Mit diesen drei Worten endet Bachmanns Roman „Malina“. Sie klingen nach, wenn Sandra Hüller die Schriftstellerin an einem imaginären letzten Tag in Rom verkörpert. INGEBORG BACHMANN – JEMAND, DER EINMAL ICH WAR nähert sich der Autorin über ihre eigenen Worte: Briefe, Tagebücher, Literatur. Regina Schilling webt daraus ein hybrides Porträt, das Spielszenen, Archivmaterial und Bachmanns Texte ineinanderfügt und die zentralen Lebensphasen durchmisst – von der Kriegskindheit in Kärnten bis zum Aufstieg zum Star der Gruppe 47. Ein Film, der einer Autorin nachspürt, die nie Feministin sein wollte und heute wider Willen zur dringlichen Referenz für Debatten über Geschlecht und Macht geworden ist.
