Screenings

Feature Film

For Kassel Dokfest 2018, the feature-length film jury has selected 41 films from the wide range of 545 national and international entries we received this year. The criteria which influence the selection, are the political, social and cultural relevance of the topics as well as the artistic handling of this topic in the submitted work. Next to more classical forms of presentation, the Dokfest is open for the introduction of innovative formats, which show alleged boundaries of the genre, the might and the power of manipulation of images. Furthermore low or no budget productions, works by up-and-coming artists as well as new projects of well-known filmmakers at the Kassel Dokfest receive special attention during the selection process: because accompanying documentary works-in-progress continually is as important to us as offering a platform for the perspectives of bold and extraordinary projects.

A viewing committee, consisting of four people with different professional backgrounds (since 2009), is responsible for the selection of this section. Next to their interest in the political and cultural happenings of the world and their curiosity towards courageous and unconventional (life) stories, this group of four is unified in a cinematic obsession for documentary film in all its topical and aesthetic forms as well as their pleasure in passionate discussion about the best documentary films for the Kassel film festival.

Obviously, the selection is only able to show a part of the increasing abundance of documentary work every year, trying to none-the-less cover a broad spectrum of topics and forms and reaching an equally broad audience during the festival days.

Short Film Compilations

Filmmaking is a constant renegotiation of visibility, which produces the new and replaces and overlaps with the old. The way in which we speak of the world and create images for this purpose is highly dependent of the generation we are part of, the times and the societal circumstances we live in; this means that history is written in the present. The view upon the past is always negotiable. It remains something that can't be fixated and is rather ambivalent. The task of filmmaking – dealing with history and memory – is a challenge but it is possible, as the short films of this year's Kassel Dokfest prove. We have learned from history that there is such a thing as wrong interpretation and polarization, which incites hate, feeds and creates fears. The short films deal with this process of interpretation and encourage a debate about how we can create a narrative, which does not polarize, does not discriminate, does not label people, which takes down physical and psychological barriers and is not part of nation state discourses.

The six members of the selection committee had the task of capturing the themes and trends in contemporary film production from around 2,000 films up to a length of 65 mins submitted. Short films allow quick artistic reactions to events, but more important, they allow differing cinematic answers to similar questions. In 25 programs we reflect on recurring topics and present works that are personal, experimental, opinionated, observational and performative.

Golden Hercules – Film Program from Northern Hesse

One of the declared aims of the Kassel Dokfest is to present regional works next to the works of international filmmakers and artists – on equal terms. The festival program includes 33 experimental, animation or documentary films of filmmakers from Northern Hesse. A selection competes in the regional competition for the Golden Hercules (3,500 €) The commitment to the region is very important for the Kassel Dokfest. The last years have shown that local talent and regional works are able to compete and that the festival can serve as a steppingstone to national and international recognition.

Fulldome Films

On the occasion of the honorary prize awarded to Rotraut Pape in 2016, the Kassel Dokfest showed Fulldome films for the first time.

Completely submerging viewers in an illusion is an ancient goal of humanity and art. The Dome, always a special place in the course of our cultural history, as a place of refuge and worship (caves), as an interface with higher powers (church), a manifestation of power (architecture) and imagination (holodeck), as well as spirituality (firmament). After special planetariums were equipped with new projection technology, an innovative, audiovisual medium arose, taking account of this very special spatial situation through immersive films: the 360° fulldome film.

The audience is surrounded by images and sound and has to move independently to follow the stories. Liberated from the perspective of the external observer, the viewer no longer sits in front of the stage or screen but rather in the midst of things – and from there shifts into the center of the world.