On the 20th anniversary of the victory over the Nazi regime the festival cannot turn its back on history, nor does it wish to! The retrospective is consequently held under the motto "Films against fascism", with offerings including "Mein Kampf" (1960, Erwin Leiser) and "Das Leben Adolf Hitlers" (1961, Paul Rotha). Mihail Romm's "Der gewöhnliche Faschismus" (Obyknovennyi Fašizm, USSR) not only arouses great interest amongst critics and the public, it is also awarded the special prize of the jury. The triumphal march of the film begins here in Leipzig.
Socio-political influence of a different kind is exercised by the filmmakers Walter Heynowski, Peter Ulbrich, Stanley Forman and Joris Ivens.
With "Kommando 22" Heynowski criticises the instrumentalisation of the media as a source of income for mercenaries: "Modern mercenaries are not only equipped with automatic weapons, they are also armed with tape recorder, camera and film camera, with the aim of making a profit from the documentation of their crimes." [in: Ralf Schenk] This is directed towards Gualtiero Jacopetti, who offered money to mercenaries in the Congo to murder Congolese in order to obtain good scenes for his film "Africa Addio".
Peter Ulbrich, Stanley Forman and Joris Ivens appeal to all documentary film makers to give their support to Vietnam and to inform the civilian population of the behaviour of the US Army: "No responsible film maker may remain apathetic to the Vietnam question." [Appeal of 19/11/1965 in: Festival-Bulletin 8/1965]
Political influence is also exercised from the government itself: The 11th Plenum, the so-called "Clear-cut Plenum", results in an unambiguous line: comprehensive cultural regimentation is applied to cinema films in particular. The organisation of the festival remains largely unaffected by this, however.
With the goal of addressing the special character of the television documentaries introduced the previous year screens are set up and a special transmission route established from the post office.
Golden Doves
NOW (Cuba, Santiago Alvarez)
KOMMANDO 52 (GDR, Walter Heynowski)
GOOD TIMES, WONDERFUL TIMES (GUTE ZEITEN – HERRLICHE ZEITEN, GB, Lionel Rogosin)
IM SKAPHANDER ÜBER DEN PLANETEN (USSR, Slavinskaja)
MAGARITKA (Animated Film, Bulgaria, Todor Dinov)
BETHUNE (Canada, Gay Glover)
Silver Doves
ULJIZ (DER EINDRINGLING, Yugoslavia, Krsta Skanta)
LIDICE (Czech Republic, Pavel Hása)
VELIKAJA OTEČESTVENNAJA VOJNA (DER GROSSE VATERLÄNDISCHE KRIEG, USSR, Roman Karmen)
LEBEN – WOFÜR (GDR, Peter Ulbrich)
METAMORFOZA (Animated Film, Yugoslavia, Aleksander Marks and Vladimir Intrisa)
TEH FALL AND RISE OF THE HOUSE OF KRUPP (DER FALL UND AUFSTIEG DES HAUSES KRUPP, GB, Batty, Peter and Rudolf Vic)
Special prize of the international jury
OBYKNOVENNYI FAŠIZM (DER GEWÖHNLICHE FASCHISMUS, USSR, Mihail Romm)