CPH:DOX unveiled February 21 this year’s film programme, which features more than 200 new documentaries and more than 100 world premieres – the largest number ever in Copenhagen – and a big line-up of international filmmakers, artists, experts and opinion makers.
The festival which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, takes place March 15-26. CPH:DOX can be experienced in cinemas in Copenhagen – and in 28 other municipalities across the country simultaneously. “It will be a festival with a big emphasis on ‘celebration,’” write organisers.
Niklas Engstrøm, Artistic Director of CPH:DOX, said: “We’re going to have a blast when we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. When we founded CPH:DOX twenty years ago, we never imagined that two decades later we would be celebrating our birthday as one of the world’s leading documentary festivals. It calls for celebration, and we’re doing so with a firework of a programme with more filmmakers, more world premieres, more events and, not least, more parties than ever before.”
Competition line-up
Docs selected for the five international competitions will be deliberated over by international juries who will hand out the Dox:Award, New:Vision, F:act Award, Nordic:Dox Award, and Next:Wave Award. The full competition line-up consists of 61 titles and features 46 world premieres, 10 international premieres and 5 European premieres. The selection includes films from both established, international, award-winning directors, as well as new voices across the five competitions.
For the second time in the festival’s history, the majority of films in the five international competitions are directed by women. Of the 61 nominated films in this year’s five competition categories, 47 percent of the films are directed by one or more women, 38 percent by a male director, while 10 percent are made by mixed-gender directing teams. Five percent are directed by filmmakers who do not identify as either male or female.
Special Guests
Among the special guests that will take part in the festival are film legend Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas; Pina and others) and Oscar winners Asif Kapadia (Amy) and Chai Vasarhelyi (Free Solo), all of whom are coming to Copenhagen to discuss their oeuvre. Wenders will present the world premiere of his new compilation film A Sense of Place, created in collaboration with six Iranian filmmakers, including several in exile.
82-year-old folk legend Joan Baez will appear in Copenhagen for the new portrait film Joan Baez: I am a Noise to talk about her life as a musician and activist. In addition, Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone will take part in the festival in a live conversation (online) about his new film Nuclear Now that will be screened during the festival. As part of the festival, the audiences can also experience a brand new solo exhibition by acclaimed, Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller at the festival’s main venue Kunsthal Charlottenborg from March 17.
This year’s focus: Predicting the Past, Rewriting the Future
This year’s festival theme ‘Predicting the Past, Rewriting the Future’ explores how both the past and the future play a crucial role in our present. It does so within a large, two-part film programme.
Niklas Engstrøm, Artistic Director of CPH:DOX, said: “At this year’s festival, we examine how history has become a weapon used in the great contemporary social debates about post-colonialism, identity politics and other important agendas. On the other hand, we look at scenarios – utopian as well as dystopian – and explore how our ideas about the future are shaping the way we organize society right now.”
NEW:VISION AWARD 16 films (shorts and features) including 14 world premieres, 1 international premieres and 1 European premieres.
- Bruises (Ginan Seidl & Daniel Ulacia, Germany/Mexico, World Premiere)
- Drifting Woods (Pia Rönicke, Denmark, World Premiere)
- The Society of the Spectacle (Roxy Farhat & Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden, World Premiere)
- Burial of this Order (Jane Jin Kaisen, Denmark/Germany, World Premiere)
- Into the Violet Belly (Thuy-han Nguyen, Vietnam/Germany, European Premiere)
- The Secret Garden (Nour Ouayda, Lebanon, World Premiere)
- Fat to Ashes (Pauline Curnier Jardin, France, World Premiere)
- Insert Song (Kamil Dossar, Denmark, World Premiere)
- Pacific Club (Valentin Noujaïm, France, World Premiere)
- Nothing Runs Like a Deere (Max Göran, Sweden, World Premiere)
- New Centuries are Rare (Coyote, Sweden/Denmark, World Premiere)
- An Excavation (Maeve Brennan, UK, International Premiere)
- An Asian Ghost Story (Bo Wang, Hong Kong/Netherlands, World Premiere)
- The Departing Images (Ana Edwards, Chile/France, World Premiere)
- Levitate (Iván Argote, Italy/Spain/France, World Premiere)
- A Piece of Work (Deniz Eroglu, Denmark/Turkey, World Premiere)
F:ACT AWARD 11 films including 6 world premieres and 3 international premieres, 2 European premieres.
- 20 Days in Mariupol (Mstyslav Chernov, Ukraine, European Premiere)
- Baghdad on Fire (Karrar Al-Azzawi, Iraq/Norway, World Premiere)
- Beyond Utopia (Madeleine Gavin, USA, International Premiere)
- Blix, Birds & Bombs (Greta Stocklassa, Sweden/The Czech Republic/Germany, World Premiere)
- Breaking Social (Fredrik Gertten, Sweden, World Premiere)
- Deep Rising (Matthieu Rytz, USA, European Premiere)
- Phantom Parrot (Kate Stonehill, UK, World Premiere)
- Praying for Armageddon (Tonje Hessen Schei, Norway, World Premiere)
- Seven Winters in Tehran (Steffi Niederzoll, Germany/France, International Premiere)
- The Hostage Takers (Puk Damsgaard/Søren Klovborg, Denmark, World Premiere)
- Victim/Suspect (Nancy Schwartzman, USA, International Premiere)
NORDIC:DOX AWARD 11 films including 8 world premieres and 3 international premieres.
- Fighters (Jon Haukeland, Norway, International Premiere)
- Heartist (Marianna Mørkøre, Beinta á Torkilsheyggi, Faroe Islands, World Premiere)
- Hypermoon (Mia Engberg, Sweden, International Premiere)
- Just Before Death (Anne Regitze Wivel, Denmark, World Premiere)
- Labor (Tove Pils, Sweden, International Premiere)
- Lynx Man (Juha Suonpää, Finland, World Premiere)
- Mrs Hansen & the Bad Companions (Jella Bethmann, Denmark, World Premiere)
- A Silent Story (Anders Skovbjerg Jepsen, Denmark/Sweden, World Premiere)
- Soviet Bus Stops (Kristoffer Hegnsvad, Canada/Denmark, World Premiere)
- The Gamer (Petri Luukkainen/Jesse Jokinen, Finland, World Premiere)
- Voice (Ane Hjort Guttu, Norway, World Premiere)
NEXT:WAVE AWARD 10 films including 5 world premieres, 3 international premieres and 2 European premieres.
- Megaheartz (Emily Norling, Sweden/Norway, World Premiere)
- Queendom (Agniia Galdanova, USA, International Premiere)
- Silent Sun of Russia (Sybilla Tuxen, Denmark, World Premiere)
- Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints, Estonia, European Premiere)
- The Flag (Joseph Paris, France, World Premiere)
- The Group Crit (Sille Storihle, Norway, International Premiere)
- The Last Year of Darkness (Benjamin Mullinkosson, China/USA, World Premiere)
- The Mountains (Christian Einshøj, Denmark/Norway, World Premiere)
- The Tuba Thieves (Alison O’Daniel, USA, International Premiere)
- Twice Colonized (Lin Alluna, Denmark/Greenland/Canada, European Premiere)
As announced on February 15, the CPH:DOX main competition (DOX:AWARD) will present 13 world premieres. https://businessdoceurope.com/cphdox-unveils-doxaward-main-competition-selection/
