Songs of Earth, Margreth Olin, Norway
CPH:FORUM (26-30 April) has announced its line-up for 2021, designed to showcase “a diversity of topics, genres and artistic approaches as well as a diverse representation among the storytellers.” The selection gathers 43 filmmakers from 27 countries, featuring the work of female and male storytellers in equal measure. 46% of the directors are women, 43% are men, and the remaining 11% are co-directing teams of men and women. 34% of the stories are told by filmmakers of colour.
CPH:FORUM will play out as a digital event, “taking the opportunity to develop the event’s format in response to the changed marketplace online.” The selected projects will be highlighted in individually curated pitch setups and introduced to cherry-picked financing partners. A brand-new catch-up platform is being developed to facilitate follow-ups between producers, buyers and distributors in the months to come.
Over past years, the event has featured projects from high profile directors and artists such as Petra Costa (BR), Mads Brügger (DK), Guido Hendrikx (NL), Hubert Sauper (AT), Victor Kossakovsky (RU), Peter Mettler (US), Sally Potter (UK), Yael Bartana (IL), Theo Anthony (US), Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (FR), Stephanie Spray (US), Tonje Hessen Schei (NO), Ben Rivers (UK), Roberto Minervini (IT), Ulrich Seidl (AT) and Crystal Moselle (US).
Katrine Kiilgaard, Head of Industry and Deputy Director at CPH:DOX, comments:
“The pandemic has upended the global film industry, halted film production, closed cinemas, and moved festivals online. These disruptions have however only accelerated a transformation well underway. In the context of increasingly monocultural mainstream space, CPH:DOX’s mission to nurture non-fiction as a wide variety of genres and artistic expressions has never been more relevant. Adapting to the new circumstances, we stand by our long standing commitment to connect professionals from across the fields of non-fiction, fiction, visual art, journalism and science to create a shared culture and foster a rich documentary community with a clear voice in civil society.”
Tereza Simikova, Head of CPH:FORUM, adds:
“A year after pulling together a first ever digital festival in March 2020, we understood that what we did in a week’s time last year wasn’t a special anomaly, but rather a first step in a much deeper transformation of the entire modus operandi of the documentary community. That is an exciting thing. We believe there is a huge potential in this transition to revise the power dynamics of film financing and we are grateful for the trust of filmmakers, producers as well as the financiers joining us in this effort.”
The projects will be presented to toppers at streaming platforms such as Disney+, Netflix and Hulu; broadcasters such as ARTE, ZDF, BBC, CNN, National Geographic, POV and DR; film studios Participant Media, Topic, Endeavour, and Sandbox Films, and philanthropic foundations such as Creative Capital, Sundance Institute, Creative Capital, Chicken and Egg Pictures, Freedom of Speech Foundation, and Blue Ice Docs. “With more to come!” the festival underlines.
CPH:DOX will present the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of € 20,000 for the event’s best project intended for co-production.
8 Nordic work-in-progress projects
As part of CPH:FORUM, 8 work-in-progress projects from high-profile Nordic producers and directors have also been selected and will present at the CPH:WIP event on Tuesday 27 April. Upcoming, near-completed films from established Nordic production companies, such as Final Cut for Real and Momento Film will be looking for gap financing or a launch pad for further distribution. The titles are curated in collaboration with the Nordic film institutes and reflect the festival’s commitment to strong documentaries from the Nordic region.
CPH:FORUM 2021 projects
● A Little Story About an Immeasurable Problem, Lech Kowalski, France
● Before the Storm, Juan Palacios, Sofie Husum Johannesen, Denmark
● Carropasajero, Juan Pablo Polanco Carranza, Cesar Alejandro Jaimes León, Colombia, Argentina, Germany
● Cold & Warm, Jørgen Leth, Andreas Koefoed, Denmark
● De Anima, Clara Jo, Germany
● Dis-Ease, Mariam Ghani, United States
● Double Trouble, Mads Brügger, Denmark
● Expedition 49, Alisa Kovalenko, Ukraine, France, Poland
● The Forest for the Trees, Lucy Walker, Scotland, France, United States
● For Love, Martin Herring, Mike Lerner, United Kingdom, Romania
● H for Hoax: The Phantasmagorically True Story of the Stone Age Tasadays, Khavn De La Cruz, Philippines, Germany
● Handheld, Rebekah Maysles, United States
● Les Jours (Days), Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, Canada
● Machine, Dan Sickles, United States
● Marching in the Dark, Kinshuk Surjan, Belgium, India, Netherlands, France
● Nocturnes, Anupama Srinivasan, Anirban Dutta, India, United States, Bulgaria
● Perseverance Valley, Pauline Julier, Clément Postec, France, Chile, Switzerland
● Pre-emptive Listening, Aura Satz, United Kingdom
● Rising up at Night, Nelson Makengo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Germany
● Songs of Earth, Margreth Olin, Norway
● Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, Johan Grimonprez, Belgium
● Sudan Revolution Stories, Hind Meddeb, France, Sudan
● TATA/Father, Radu Ciorniciuc, Lina Vdovîi, Romania, Italy, Germany
● The Broken Caliphate, Jess Kelly, Vanessa Bowles, Denmark, United Kingdom
● The Elephant in the Room, Eugene Jarecki, Germany, United States
● The End of All, Sun Hee Engelstoft, Denmark, France
● The Oldest Person in the World, Sam Green, United States
● The Pervert’s Guide to Utopias, Sophie Fiennes, Ireland, United Kingdom, Slovenia
● The Wild Ones, Eva Weber, United Kingdom
● The Woman Who Cleaned the World, Fia Stina Sandlund, Sweden
● Theft of Fire, Amer Shomali, Palestine, Canada
● Tvind, Max Kestner, Henrik Veileborg, Denmark
● Untitled, Michael Premo, United States
● Untitled Dystopia Film, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, United States
● Voices from Isolation, Sonita Gale, United Kingdom
CPH:WIP 2021 projects
● Band, Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir, Iceland, Estonia
● Into the Ice, Lars Ostenfeld, Denmark, Germany
● Stories From The Debris, Jennifer Rainsford, Sweden
● The Killing of a Journalist, Matt Sarnecki, Denmark, United States
● The Life and Times of Omar Sharif, Axel Petersén & Mark Lotfy, Sweden, Egypt, UK
● The Norwegian Headache, Rune Denstad Langlo, Norway
● The Sky Above Zenica, Nanna Frank Møller, Zlatko Pranjic, Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany
● Twice Colonized, Lin Alluna, Greenland, Denmark, Canada
As announced earlier, founder and CEO of CPH:DOX Tine Fischer will be leaving at the end of this year’s festival to take over as Director of The National Film School of Denmark.
