Press kit

CPH:DOX was founded in 2003. Supported by film professionals as well as the national press, CPH:DOX grew from 14,000 admissions in its first year to a record-breaking total of 110,500 admissions in 2018.

CPH:DOX continues to develop and expand, presenting a program that ranges from the works of major international directors to fresh new talent, from large scale theatrical releases to works existing somewhere between cinema and visual art. The programme bridges the gaps between different media disciplines, offering new perspectives and creative crossovers between art and documentary cinema. This forward thinking festival format has marked  CPH:DOX as one of the world’s leading documentary happenings.

More than a film festival

During the eleven days of the film festival CPH:DOX also presents audiovisual concerts, art exhibitions, talks and debates, masterclasses, regional film events, a school programme, EVERYDAY workshops and industry activities, such as CPH:CONFERENCE, CPH:MARKET, CPH:LAB and the international financing and co-production event CPH:FORUM.

Kunsthal Charlottenborg

During CPH:DOX Kunsthal Charlottenborg is the setting of our festival centre, hoursing everything film screenings, concerts and international industry events. This will be an ideal place to meet, network, take a break, recharge, experience, or simply just enjoy the atmosphere of CPH:DOX. There will be a small cafe and a restaurant where you can enjoy a lunch or a cup of coffee.

Kunsthal Charlottenborg is decorated by Danish furniture brand Normann Copenhagen. Together, Normann and CPH:DOX present Denmark’s very first sofa cinema, Social Cinema. Kunsthal Charlottenborg also houses a spectacular virtual reality cinema, a curated art exhibition, an interactive exhibition, several talk and lounge areas and Apollo Café and Kantine, which has been turned into a working space for all festival guests – we call it Orbit.

At Kunsthal Charlottenborg you’ll also find our CPH:DOX Info & Press desk where you can pick up your accreditation and the printed CPH:DOX 2019 programme.

Among this year’s news and highlights is a strong focus on Europe that includes films, talks, an exhibition, a new program dedicated to fiction and guest stars from Ai Weiwei to Pamela Anderson.

Women are featured strongly in this year’s programme. The festival opens with the world premiere of Marie Skovgaard’s ‘The Reformist’, dedicating the evening to the the women’s liberation movement among muslim communities. Together with a selection of prominent international film festivals CPH:DOX is signing the new ‘50/50 2020 Charter’, calling for change in the industry and more women both behind and in front of the camera. And we have already begun – 45% of the 66 competition films of CPH:DOX is directed by women.

The winners of our six international competitions and Politiken’s Audience Award will be announced on Friday March 29th during the CPH:DOX Award Ceremony at Kunsthal Charlottenborg.

Last but not least, these films expand the possibilities of the medium and its relation to reality. The winner of DOX:AWARD will be appointed by an international jury, and awarded a cash prize of 5.000€.

This year’s nominees include 8 world premieres, 2 international premieres and 2 European premieres:

• The Rest, Ai Weiwei, China/Germany, world premiere
• Swarm Season, Sarah J Christman, USA, world premiere
• Rediscovery, Phie Ambo, Denmark, world premiere
• Tiny Souls, Dina Naser, Jordan, Qatar, France, world premiere
• The Reformist, Marie Skovgaard, Denmark, world premiere
• Shelter, Enrico Masi, Italy, France, world premiere
• On the Inside of a Military Dictatorship, Karen Stokkedal Poulsen, Denmark, France, world premiere
• A Stranger, Mikel Cee Karlsson, Sweden, world premiere
• Searching Eva, Pia Hellenthal,Germany, international premiere
• Ridge, John Skoog, Sweden, international premiere
• The Edge of Democracy, Petra Costa, Brazil, European premiere
• The Disappearance of My Mother, Beniamino Barrese, Italy, European premiere

Former winners:

2018: The Raft (SE/DK/US/DE), Marcus Lindeen.
2017: Last Men in Aleppo (DK), Feras Fayyad.
2015: God Bless the Child (US), Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck.
2014: The Look of Silence (DK), Joshua Oppenheimer.
2013: Bloody Beans (FR), Narimane Mari.
2012: The Act of Killing (DA), Joshua Oppenheimer.

The nominees include 4 world premieres, 4 international premieres and 3 European premieres:

• On the President’s Orders, James Jones & Olivier Sarbil, UK, world premiere
• The Good Terrorist, Robert Oye, Holland, world premiere
• Push, Fredrik Gertten, Sweden, world premiere
• Democracy LTD, Robert Schabus, Austria, France, UK, world premiere
• Dark Suns, Julien Elie, Canada, European premiere
• Sea of Shadows, Richard Ladkini, Austria, European premiere
• American Factory, Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert, USA, international premiere
• Midnight Family, Luke Lorentzen, Mexico, USA, European premiere
• Favela Frontlines, Renato Martins, Brazil, international premiere
• War of Art, Tommy Gulliksen, Norway, international premiere

• The Color of Justice, Marjolaine Grappe, France, international premiere

Former winners:

2018: Laila at the Bridge (CA/AF), Elizabeth Mirzaei & Gulistan Mirzaei.

2017: Radio Kobani (NL), Reber Dosky.

2015: Among the Believers (PK), Hemal Trivedi & Mohammed Ali Naqvi.

2014: E-Team. Katy Chevigny (US), Ross Kauffman.

2013: Dirty Wars (US), Richard Rowley.

The competition ranges from poetics to politics and includes 13 films. Among them are 8 world premieres and 5 international premieres. The winner is awarded a cash prize of 5.000€

• The Revenge of the Diva, Emelie Jönsson & Gustav Ahlgren, Sweden, world premiere
• Winter’s Yearning, Sidse Torstholm Larsen & Sturla Pilskog, Norway, Denmark, Greenland, world premiere
• Mating, Lina Maria Mannheimer, Sweden, world premiere
• The Feminister, Viktor Nordenskiöld, Sweden, world premiere
• Don’t Give a Fox, Kaspar Astrup Schröder, Denmark, world premiere
• Q’s Barbershop, Emil Langballe, Denmark, world premiere
• Forget Me Not, Sun Hee Engelstoft, Denmark, South Korea, world premiere
• The Men’s Room, Petter Sommer & Jo Vemund Svendsen, Norway, international premiere
• All We Own, Emily Norling, Sweden, international premiere
• The Hypnotist, Arthur Franck, Finland, international premiere
• Where Man Returns, Egil Håskjold Larsen, Norway, international premiere
• Wolfland, Olivia Chamby-Rus, Denmark, world premiere
• Once Aurora, Stian Servoss & Benjamin Langeland, Norway, world premiere

Former winners:

2018: The Raven and the Seagull (DK/GL), Lasse Lau.
2017: Land of the Free (DK), Camilla Magid.
2015: Return of the Atom(FI/DE), Mika Taanila & Jussi Eerola.
2014: Olmo & The Seagull (DK/BR/FR), Lea Glob & Petra Costa.
2013: After You (SE), Marius Dybwad-Brandrud.
2012: Searching for Bill (DA), Jonas Poher Rasmussen.

The winner is awarded a cash prize of 5.000€.

• A Moon for My Father, Mania Akbari, Iran, world premiere
• Everybody in the Place, Jeremy Deller, UK, world premiere
• Western Rampart, SUPERFLEX, Denmark (short), world premiere
• Shed a Light, Laure Prouvost, France, Belgium (short), world premiere
• Now, at last!, Ben Rivers, UK (short), world premiere
• Des trous, Keren Cytter, Israel (short), world premiere
• Transformation Scenario, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Germany, Latvia (short), international premiere
• Prometheus, Haig Aivazian, Lebanon (short), world premiere
• In the Body of Sturgeon, Mary Reid Kelley, USA (short), world premiere
• •, Ezekiel Morgan, Germany (short), world premiere
• Darwin Darwah, Arash Nassiri, France (short), world premiere
• Télédésir, Cindy Coutant, France (short), world premiere
• So Dear, So Lovely, Diana Allen, Canada, Lebanon (short), world premiere
• Towards the Sun, Nour Ouayda, Libanon, Canada (short), international premiere
• All That Perishes at the Edge of Land, Hira Nabi, Pakistan (short), world premiere

Former winners:

2018: Wild Relatives (LB/NO), Jumana Manna.
2017: Life Imitation (CH), Zhou Chen.
2015: Shared between: Bending to Earth (DE/US), Rosa Barba & The Digger (LB/AE/FR), Ali Cherri.
2014: The Dent (EG), Basim Magdy.
2013: A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (UK/FR), Ben Rivers & Ben Russel.
2012: Leviathan (FR), Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel.

This year’s selection is comprised of 15 long and short documentaries including 10 world premieres and 5 international premieres.  

• Property, Matthias Lintner, Germany, world premiere
• The Last Male on Earth, Floor van der Meulen, Holland, Belgium, Germany, world premiere
• Ibrahim, Lina Alabed, Lebanon, world premiere
• Inland, Juan Palacios, Spain, world premiere
• A Married Couple, Emil Langballe, Denmark, world premiere
• When All is Ruin Once Again, Keith Walsh, Ireland, international premiere
• Kabul, City in the Wind, Aboozar Amini, Afghanistan, Holland, Japan, Germany, international premiere
• The Hottest August, Brett Story, USA, Canada, international premiere
• Hi, AI, Isa Willinger, Germany, international premiere
• I Was Here, Nathalie Biancheri & Ola Jankowska, UK, Poland world premiere
• Furiernes Hus, Nanna Rebekka & Pernille Lystlund Matzen, Denmark (short), world premiere
• The Dream of Lady Hamilton, Oliver Cheval, France (short), world premiere
• You See the Moon, Miguel Nunes, Spain (short), international premiere
• A Tree Is Like a Man, Thorbjorg Jonsdottir, Iceland, Columbia (short), world premiere
• Concrete Nature: The Planetary Sand Bank, Rikke Luther, Denmark (short), world premiere

Former winners:

2018: Beautiful Things (IT), Giorgio Ferrero & Federico Biasin.
2017: 1996 Lucy and the Corpses in the Pool (AR), Marcos Migliavacca & Nahuel Lahora

The winner will receive 50.000 DKK.

Advocate, Philippe Bellaïche, Rachel Leah Jones, Israel, Canada, Switzerland, European premiere
Dark Suns, Julien Elie, Canada, European premiere
Democracy LTD, Robert Schabus, Austria, France, UK, world premiere
Halston, Frédéric Tcheng, USA, international premiere
Hi, AI, Isa Willinger, Germany, international premiere
Human Nature, Adam Bolt, USA, international premiere
Memory: The Origins of Alien, Alexandre O. Philippe, USA, European premiere
One Child Nation, Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, China, international premiere
Peter Lindbergh Women’s Stories, Jean Michel Vecchiet, Germany, international premiere
Push, Fredrik Gertten, Sweden, world premiere

The programme opens Thursday May 21st with the world premiere of ’Democracy LTD’ followed up by a talk with European expert Uffe Østergaard.

Later that evening Kunsthal Charlottenborg’s exhibition ‘Europa Endlos’ opens at CPH:DOX, presenting works from international artists Monica Bonvicini, Jeremy Deller, Jimmie Durham, Olafur Eliasson, Fischli Weiss, Daniil Galkin, Sara Jordenö, Bouchra Khalili and Wolfgang Tillmans. ‘Europa Endlos’ explores central themes regarding Brexit, the upcoming European Parliament election, such at identity, borders, community and migration. The exhibition is curated by Henriette Bretton-Meyer and accompanied by numerous film screenings, debates and talks.

Well known filmmakers such as Soudade Kaadan, Ognjen Glavonic and Matthew Heineman are coming to Copenhagen to present their first feature films, all of which chronicle personal experiences with war in Syria, Serbia and in Heineman’s case, the war correspondent Marie Colvin. Colvin is played by Hollywood star Rosamund Pike, and the secondary characters are played by survivors from some of the conflicts the real Marie Colvin reported from.

Other films search for a near future by mirroring contemporary concerns, such Brazilian ‘Divine Love’ and French ‘Jessica Forever’ that are both coming to CPH:DOX riding a wave of praise from the Berlinale.

This is also true of this year’s perhaps most awaited Danish debut, Ulaa Salim’s ‘Danmarks sønner’, taking place in tomorrow’s Denmark where the alt-right face a landslide victory and the extreme polarizing idea of ‘us’ and ‘them’ have fatal consequences.

Johannes Nyholm’s surreal ‘Koko-di Koko-da’ approaches truth through fiction. Peter Belli plays one of the main characters in the film that mixes slapstick, animation and psychological horror in a tale about overcoming grief.

The monumental ‘La Flor’ frames the entire series through six different stories and a length of 14 hours, growing into a film about filmmaking, the viewing experience, the art of acting and the endless possibilities of fiction.

Chineses Ai Weiwei focuses on the European refugee policy and its consequences, American band Animal Collective speak for the dying coral reefs, the frontmen of both New Order and Suede take to the stage to talk about their careers while Bat for Lashes debates and create art for us. Finally, the philosopher Srecko Horvat sits down with actress and activist Pamela Anderson for a talk about Europe and the new democratic movement.

JUSTICE is a theme-based programme section supported by the Dreyer Foundation which focuses on the relationships between the individual and the state, security and liberty, ethics and law, the constitutional state and democracy. The films are followed by debates with leading lawyers, professionals, human rights activists and the audience.

In 2017 CPH:DOX founded the science programme in collaboration with the Lundbeck foundation. The programme aims at making science accessible and interesting for the public in a time where our approach to facts is particularly challenged. To reach this aim CPH:SCIENCE offers activities that rethink our relationship to science across audience, educational institutions, research facilities, and the film industry.

The programme opens with the world premiere of Pernille Rose Grønkjær’s documentary ‘Hunting for Hedonia’, probing deep into the phenomenon ‘deep brain stimulation’. CPH:SCIENCE offers a strong lineup of Danish neuroscience researchers, a film programme packed with scientific research, a science section for kids and youth, a conference and a pitching forum focusing of science for the film industry and the academic world.

AUDIO:VISUALS

AUDIO:VISUALS is chock-full of hybrid live experiences merging concerts with art. Groundbreaking musical artists are either challenged by renowned filmmakers, visual artists or films from our programme – or the bands themselves embark on visual experiments.

Through the years, this has resulted in a cavalcade of truly special concerts – and 2019 will be no exception!

DJ and producer Olof Dreijer, perhaps most known from Swedish activist band The Knife, kicks off the festival at Kunsthal Charlottenborg. He’ll start out with a talk on feminism, queerness and the political enviroment of Europe, and then it’s time for vogueing with the short ‘Into a Space of Love’ followed by a vogue show by performance collective  Disturbing Business.

The party continues in the foyer and mezzanine, where Dreijer will spin records followed by Yha Yha and DJ Nah Care.

Besides Olof Dreijer, international artists such as Bat for Lashes, Animal Collective (Geologist and Deakin), lead singer from TV on the Radio, Tunde Adebimpe and ambient composer Roger Eno are live at CPH:DOX.

Check out the full lineup here.

SOUND & VISION – 2019’s Best Music Film

The film section SOUND & VISION is dedicated to this year’s best music film. Among the titles are the documentary ‘Doin’ My Drugs’ about Danish Thomas Buttenschøn and his work to fight AIDS in Zambia, as well as films on  legendary names like Johnny Cash, New Order, Beth Gibbons from Portishead, Leonard Cohen and Suede.

AUTOFICTION

The filmmakers are putting themselves on the line, both behind and in front of the camera, in our section dedicated to a genre usually known from literature: autofiction. Stories told from a first person perspective and rooted in the lives and personal experiences of the artists but with freedom to dream and experiment.

HIGHLIGHTS

Festival hits: Great films, great stories, and great characters. Including brand new titles on everything from literature and sports to modern life and existentialism.

DANISH:DOX

New Danish documentaries from established & upcoming filmmakers courageously and honestly exploring the tough themes in life.

ARTIST & AUTEURS

Meet some of the world’s most respected artists and filmmakers – both in front of and behind the camera. The filmmakers in this section have one thing in common: their own signature style.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

A special selection of exclusive premieres out of competition.

CHANGE

Political and powerful films aiming for change and creating an impact.

CPH:CONFERENCE is open for anyone with a ticket or accreditation.

If you are curious and keen on debate, CPH:MEETINGS is for you!

CPH:MEETINGS is presented in collaboration with CPH Film Fund, and supported by Københavns Kommune.

CPH:FORUM is a two-day event taking place on March 27th and March 28th. Top producers and highly acknowledged directors from all over the world will take the stage to pitch 30 carefully selected projects in different pitch setups to an audience of industry professionals, including potential co-production partners, financiers and distributors.

Reflecting the overall profile of CPH:DOX, projects at CPH:FORUM are presented within five main categories: FICTIONONFICTION, CINEMA, F:ACT, ART and SCIENCE. Leading broadcasting stations such as ARTE, ZDF, NDR, BBC, DR, American Netflix, POV, and HBO as well as several film foundations are returning participants of CPH:FORUM.

On top, we are proud to present the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €15,000 for the best pitch of the event.

The CPH:WIP project presentations take place at Kunsthal Charlottenborg on Tuesday March 26th. The titles are curated in collaboration with the Nordic Film Institutes and reflect CPH:DOX’s commitment to strong documentaries from the nordic region.