Leipzig 2023

Going viral: an interview with ‘The Standstill’ director Nikolaus Geyrhalter

by Stephen Dalton | Oct 11, 2023 | Featured, Festivals, Leipzig 2023

The feted Austrian documentary maker talks about capturing the Coronavirus crisis on camera, filming in perilous places, and his life-changing rejection from film school.

Beauty and the Lawyer

by Carmen Gray | Oct 11, 2023 | Festivals, Leipzig 2023

A married LGBTQ+ couple worry if a future Armenia will honour the rights of their non-conventional family, in this intimately observational, activism-based doc.

Lumene: Privatisation

by Ben Nicholson | Oct 11, 2023 | Festivals, Leipzig 2023, Verdict Shorts

In the complex and thought-provoking essay film, Lumene: Privatisation, David Shongo reflects on the commodification of cultural memory and the lasting impacts of insidious colonial impositions.

Togoland Projections

by Stephen Dalton | Oct 10, 2023 | Featured, Festivals, Leipzig 2023

German director Jürgen Ellinghaus retraces the West African travels of a silent-era film director in ‘Togoland Projections’, a dry but engaging documentary about European colonialism’s screen legacy.

Zima

by Ben Nicholson | Oct 10, 2023 | Festivals, Leipzig 2023, Verdict Shorts

The chill is both atmospheric and emotional in Zima, a scratchy, punkish, magical realist animation about life in a quiet, snow-laden fishing village.

TFV Talks To Maria Fredriksson about The Gullspång Miracle

by Carmen Gray | Oct 10, 2023 | Festivals, Leipzig 2023, Spotlight

Maria Fredriksson plunged into the doc-making deep end for her debut feature ‘The Gullspång Miracle’, screening at DOK Leipzig.

The Standstill

by Stephen Dalton | Oct 9, 2023 | Featured, Festivals, Leipzig 2023

Austrian documentary maker Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s symphonic Covid chronicle ‘The Standstill’ plays like a slow-motion disaster movie with immersive widescreen visuals.

The Mother of All Hybrids

by Max Borg | Oct 9, 2023 | Festivals, Leipzig 2023

Asmae El Moudir’s ‘The Mother of All Lies’ embodies both sides of DOK Leipzig’s festival identity.

Three Windows on South West

by Ben Nicholson | Oct 9, 2023 | Festivals, Leipzig 2023, Verdict Shorts

An ostensibly simplistic documentary about a flat in Kyiv, Three Windows on South West uses incidental memories to paint a fleeting collective portrait of another time.

Vika!

by Stephen Dalton | Oct 8, 2023 | Featured, Festivals, Leipzig 2023

Polish director Agnieszka Zwiefka’s lively documentary ‘Vika!’ paints a celebratory but poignant portrait of Warsaw’s oldest club DJ.

Festival Reviews