How Documentaries Find Their Audience

29 May, 2026, 11.00 AM @ Festival Center: Lounge 19

Event language: English

Peter Drössler, with his background in the NGO sector, was one of the first to introduce the concepts of outreach, audience engagement, and impact into the documentary film industry, well before they became buzzwords. From his initial PR campaign for the theatrical release of About Water (Udo Maurer, 2006) to his work at POOOL Filmverleih, which included films like Taste the Waste (Valentin Thurn, 2011), he has always been at the forefront of connecting documentaries with wider audiences. His later move into production has given him a rare perspective on how documentary films move through the market. Spanning both television documentaries and internationally acclaimed feature films, his recent work includes The Last Ambassador (Natalie Halla, 2025) and Girls & Gods (Arash T. Riahi & Verena Soltiz, 2025).

This session provides a unique inside view of the documentary industry from someone who started on the outside and is now deeply embedded in its inner workings.