Founded in 1955 as "Leipziger Kultur- und Dokumentarfilmwoche" (Leipzig Week for Cultural and Documentary Film), the festival bears its actual designation since 1991. The first festival director after the Fall of the Wall was Christiane Mückenberger (1990-1993), followed by Fred Gehler (1994-2003), Claas Danielsen (2004-20014) and Leena Pasanen (2015-2019). Actually, Christoph Terhechte is in charge. An Ecumenical Jury existed since 1990. 2016 it was transformed into an interreligious jury.
