Call for Entries:

German Documentary Film Music Award 2025

Submit now until 3 February 2025!

DOK.fest München and Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung are pleased to announce the 13th German Documentary Film Music Award, which will be presented at the 40th DOK.fest München, taking place in May 2025.

An award for outstanding documentary film compositions

Unique in the German-speaking region, the German Documentary Film Music Award recognises a composition for a feature-length cinema documentary that connects with the documentary film narrative in a special way. The award sees itself as a platform for the work of composers and the value of music as a narrative level in documentary films.

The award is donated by the Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung and is endowed with a prize money of 5.000 euros. The award goes to the composer of the film. The award ceremony will take place within the festival programme of DOK.fest München.

Composers and filmmakers are cordially invited to submit their original compositions for a current feature-length documentary film from the German-speaking countries!

Conditions of participation

Films that meet the following criteria are eligible for submission to the German Documentary Film Music Award:

The composition is part of a documentary film and was composed for it.
The composer is a GEMA member or a member of AKM or SUISA.
The date of completion of the film is after 1 January 2024.
The running time of the film (not the score) is at least 52 minutes.
The running time of the score is at least 15 minutes.
At least 75% of the score must be composed by the applicant composer.
Films that are available on freely accessible internet platforms and/or have already been broadcast on German television before the award ceremony as well as films that have already been shown publicly at DOK.fest München are excluded from submission.
Please confirm officially that the submitted film can be screened publicly on the evening of the award ceremony and additionally as part of our BEST DOKS.

Submission

If you are submitting a film to us for the first time, please set up an account under "My account".
If you already have an account, you can log in at any time.
Please select "German Documentary Film Music Award" under "Registration for" in the film submission form.
We provide information on the exact steps for submitting a film here under item 8.

Please also send the following documents by email to Johanna von Websky (websky@dokfest-muenchen.de):

Cover letter, informal (with telephone number and address of the submitter)
Cue sheet for the registered composition (incl. time code)
Screening link of the film (rough cut sufficient)
Bio- and filmography of the composer

Please make sure that you send in all documents, as incomplete submissions cannot be considered. All documents and information will be treated in strict confidence.

The submission is independent of the participation at the DOK.fest München.

Submission deadline is 3 February 2025.