Leipzig – October 29, 2026 -- Six ARD broadcasters will cover gross production costs of up to €300,000 for "Die unglaubliche Geschichte des Moorhuhns" (The Incredible Story of the Moorhuhn), the winner of the 15th ARD TopDocs Competition. Leipzig-based Hoferichter & Jacobs GmbH, represented by Ariane Riecker and Olaf Jacobs, won the pitch for the 90-minute documentary.
Jury picked the winner from 52 submissions and three finalists
A jury of programme editors from the participating ARD media houses and the ARD Mediathek, chaired by ARD Editor-in-Chief Oliver Köhr, shortlisted three projects out of 52 entries. The finalists presented their concepts at a pitch in Leipzig on October 28, 2026. The call sought stories of people who risked everything for big goals, for release on Das Erste or in the ARD Mediathek.
Jury cites New Economy story and three-friend narrative
Köhr said the pitch combines rise, hubris, success and collapse and reaches well beyond the story of a computer game. The jury also valued its account of the 2000s New Economy and a human thread about three friends who played together, lost, fell hard and eventually reunited.
Producer expects the film to be finished within a year
Jacobs said the award gives the project a major boost and makes completion within a year realistic. He described the film as a story about friendship, how careers take off and how hypes develop, not just about an old game.
MDR, BR, NDR, SWR, WDR and rbb share the financing
The funding comes from MDR, BR, NDR, SWR, WDR and rbb, the broadcasters in the ARD initiative. The TopDocs final is traditionally held during the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film. The competition was renamed in 2023 from the "ARD Documentary Film Competition".