The wisdom that life itself writes the best stories seems to be catching on on television, too.

In the past, documentary filmmakers had a need to talk because they found themselves in the hidden niches of broadcast planning, but a boom is now looming that hardly anyone expected.

Two days before the end of the festival, the director of the Munich Dok.fest, Daniel Sponsel, was amazed to find that RTL fought a bidding war with the public broadcasters before his eyes and won in the end.

The booty: The documentary film "Navalny", which opened the festival and is now constantly sold out, "although we play in the largest halls with this documentary.

It's a shame that the time window for theatrical release is very small," says Sponsel.

RTL shows "Navalny" on June 1 on RTL + and on June 6.

The Cologne-based private broadcaster wants to get involved in the market segment, "because you can reach new target groups with the documentary film.

Now they all want to play along," says the festival director, referring to Pro Sieben's documentary plans.

But UFA has also founded a new production company for documentaries, Bavaria has expanded to include exactly this area and Neue Constantin has also opened a new documentary production area.

"We still don't have the standing of the Berlinale"

But Sponsel is not completely satisfied: Many do not really dare to go back into the halls: "We have noticed that a cinema is not a football stadium, some are still overwhelmed by the relevant topics and, in view of the pandemic and war, are longing for something lighter Entertainment.” Others prefer outdoor events.

It is, of all things, a film about Jonas Deichmann, the outdoor and extreme sportsman who inspired audiences at the Dok.fest.

You are still too small to “take everything with you.

We don't have the standing of the Berlinale yet," says Sponsel, who has to live with the fact that "there will be fewer viewers than in 2019 and 2020".

But also with the certainty that online cannot replace the physical experience in the cinema.

"Dancing Pina", a film by Florian Heinzen-Ziob, in which ballet dancers from the Dresden Semper opera Pina Bausch's "Iphigenie auf Tauris" and an ensemble from the Senegalese Ecole des Sables perform their choreography to Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps” reinterpret.

“The public response to music films such as “Le Mali 70”, a recent German documentary by Markus CM Schmidt about the big band scene in West Africa, was more to be expected.

Schmidt accompanies the Berlin "Omniversal Earkestra" on its journey to Malian music legends to record a new album with them.

This is reminiscent of Wenders' "Buena Vista Social Club" and goes well with the Portuguese-American film "Cesaria Evora" about the Cape Verdean singer of the same name, as well as Alain Gomi's "Rewind & Play",

based on archival footage of Thelonious Monk's memorable performance in Paris in December 1969.

Direct experience of extreme events - that is the trump card of the documentary.

The film "Fire of Love" by director Sara Dosa skillfully plays this card.

She uses the images of the French geoscientists Katia and Maurice Krafft.

The couple's research into volcanology has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Earth's interior.

The images of raging volcanoes and fiery gorges are among the most impressive things the Dok.fest had to offer this year – also from a personal point of view.

The film "Fire of Love" by director Sara Dosa skillfully plays this card.

She uses the images of the French geoscientists Katia and Maurice Krafft.

The couple's research into volcanology has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Earth's interior.

The images of raging volcanoes and fiery gorges are among the most impressive things the Dok.fest had to offer this year – also from a personal point of view.

The film "Fire of Love" by director Sara Dosa skillfully plays this card.

She uses the images of the French geoscientists Katia and Maurice Krafft.

The couple's research into volcanology has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Earth's interior.

The images of raging volcanoes and fiery gorges are among the most impressive things the Dok.fest had to offer this year – also from a personal point of view.