DOK.fest SHORTS
What is a proper documentary in our times? Four shorts beg the question.
Documentary films take a look at the world – and, at the same time, every documentary film reflects on the medium itself. Four short experimental films explore the possibilities of cinematic narration. Whether this is through monumental visual worlds, internet finds or animations: let yourself be enchanted by intellectual twists and Afrofuturistic settings. Jan Sebening
Films:
READY TO DIE
ACCIDENTAL ANIMALS
SO IST DAS LEBEN UND NICHT ANDERS.
THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS
THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS
Deutschland 2024 – Director: Kokutekeleza Musebeni – DOK.fest SHORTS: Four shorts beg the question. – Length: 29 min.
In a distant future free from war and discrimination, a young black woman receives memories from our present. She must decide if she wants to inherit her ancestors’ trauma or erase it. A hybrid film journey between Afrofuturist science fiction and a documentary narrative that tells the life story of the director Kokutekeleza Musebeni, the child of a German and a Tanzanian. Past, present and future intertwine in this short film experiment. A science fiction road movie that was a semi finalist in the 2024 Student Academy Award for Documentary. Jan Sebening
Content warning: This film contains explicit descriptions of suicidal thougths and flashing effects.
We are showing this film together with READY TO DIE, ACCIDENTAL ANIMALS and SO IST DAS LEBEN UND NICHT ANDERS in the short film reel DOK.fest SHORTS.
Biografy
Kokutekeleza Musebeni has been working as a presenter and author for ARD and as a foreign correspondent for ZDF since 2011. During her studies in documentary film directing at the HFF Munich, she has always focused on Afro-futuristic experiments alongside classic formats.
Filmografy (selection)
THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS, DE 2024, 29 min. (Hybridfilm)
THE DOOR OF RETURN, DE 2021, Kurzfilm (Hybridfilm)
STRONG HAIR, DE 2019, Kurzfilm
Nominated for the Student Award
The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The films are nominated for the megaherz Student Award, worth 3,000 Euros.
No youth rating
Writer: Beatrix Rinke, Kokutekeleza Musebeni, Lara Milena Brose. Camera: Moritz Dehler, Kokutekeleza Musebeni. Sound: Andrew Mottl (Sounddesign). Editing: Lara Milena Brose. Music: Ralph Heidel. Production: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München. Producer: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München. International Sales: Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München.
SO IST DAS LEBEN UND NICHT ANDERS.
Deutschland 2024 – Director: Lenia Friedrich – DOK.fest SHORTS: Four shorts beg the question. – Length: 13 min.
Frau Miko lives right next door. She is old, very old, maybe almost a hundred. Nobody can know for sure because Frau Miko forgets things. And this is what provides the impetus for the director and animator to reflect on her own aging: what happens when we lose our memories, what remains of us then? Animation films have always been a magnificent medium for exploring big philosophical questions. And thus we are gently transported on an intellectual journey by this short, masterfully composed film. Pure cinema magic. Jan Sebening
We are showing this film together with READY TO DIE, ACCIDENTAL ANIMALS and THE THOUGHTS OF OUR ANCESTORS in the short film reel DOK.fest SHORTS.
Biography
Lenia Friedrich is a trained draughtswoman. She then found her way to animation via graphics and illustration. She also works in the fields of installation and creates multimedia works. After graduating in media art from the KHM in 2024, she now works freelance.
Filmography (selection)
DISTORTED MEMORIES, DE 2024 (Augmented Reality Installation)
MUTTERMALE, DE 2021, 9 min. (Animadoc)
Nominated for the Student Award
The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The films are nominated for the megaherz Student Award, worth 3,000 Euros.
No youth rating
English/Original Title: LIFE IS LIKE THAT AND NOT OTHERWISE.. Writer: Lenia Friedrich. Sound: Lenia Friedrich. Editing: Lenia Friedrich. Music: Fabian Widmann, Milan Raduz. Animation: Lenia Friedrich, Studio Huckepack (Friedrich Schäper, Anna Spiridonova), Judith Bornmann. Dialog Bearbeitung: Steffen Pfauth. Mischung: Judith Nordbrock. Production: Lenia Friedrich & Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Producer: Lenia Friedrich.
READY TO DIE
Deutschland, Italien 2024 – Director: Basilio Maritano Sailer – DOK.fest SHORTS: Four shorts beg the question. – Length: 30 min.
Carabinieri training barracks in Italy a few days before the swearing in of new recruits. This short film by Basilio Maritano is a kaleidoscopic film experiment with sophisticated framing and bold editing. Tradition, power structures and a painful family history intertwine in a cinematographic narrative that will really draw you in. Jan Sebening
We are showing this film together with ACCIDENTAL ANIMALS, SO IST DAS LEBEN UND NICHT ANDERS and THOUGHT OF OUR ANCESTORS in the short film reel DOK.fest SHORTS.
German premiere
Biography
Basilio Maritano Sailer is an Italian-German filmmaker. He graduated from Centro Sperimentale Cinematografia sede di Palermo and is now enrolled at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg working on his feature documentary AVENIR, set in Burkina Faso.
Filmography (selection)
AVENIR, BFA, DE 2025, 90 min. (in production)
READY TO DIE – SIAM PRONTI ALLA MORTE, IT 2024, 30 min.
Nominated for the Student Award
The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The films are nominated for the megaherz Student Award, worth 3,000 Euros.
No youth rating
English/Original Title: SIAM PRONTI ALLA MORTE. Writer: Basilio Maritano Sailer. Camera: Christoph Bockisch. Sound: Moritz Peter. Editing: Matteo Bugliarello, Emma Baruffaldi. Production: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Producer: Basilio Maritano Sailer.
ACCIDENTAL ANIMALS
Deutschland 2024 – Director: Felix Klee – DOK.fest SHORTS: Four shorts beg the question. – Length: 10 min.
Hundreds of cars, each fitted with fifteen cameras, scan our world to make our seamless Google Street View user experience possible. Naturally, this does not come without accidents, glitches or unexpected animal encounters. And while this short and entertaining film explores the most remote corners of the internet, a voiceover reflects on what all this might reveal about us as users. Will the algorithm soon be providing us with our most important food for thought. Jan Sebening
We are showing this film together with READY TO DIE, SO IST DAS LEBEN UND NICHT ANDERS and THOUGHT OF OUR ANCESTORS in the short film reel DOK.fest SHORTS.
Biography
Leila Fatima Keita is a queer, disabled filmmaker who has been studying documentary film and editing at the HFF in Munich since 2020. She has a clear focus on identity, civilisation and feminism.
Felix Klee studies directing for documentary film and editing at the HFF in Munich. 2024-2025 he is a guest student in Hito Steyerl's class at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.
Filmography
ACCIDENTAL ANIMALS, DE 2024, 9 min.
Nominated for the Student Award
The Student Award of DOK.fest München presents outstanding documentary films by students of German-speaking film schools. The films are nominated for the megaherz Student Award, worth 3,000 Euros.
No youth rating
Co-Director: Leila Fatima Keita. Writer: Leila Fatima Keita, Felix Klee. Sound: Gerhard Auer. Editing: Leila Fatima Keita, Felix Klee. Music: Timotheus Bachinger. Production: HFF München. Producer: Leila Fatima Keita, Felix Klee.
