CPH:LAB, CPH:DOX’s talent development and training programme, has selected nine new international immersive documentary projects for its 2026-2027 line-up. The curated selection spans a wide range of topics, genres, and artistic approaches, with a diverse group of storytellers from around the world behind the projects. Participants will spend the coming months in an intensive development phase, culminating in prototype presentations at CPH:DOX 2027 in Copenhagen, running March 10–21.
Since 2009, CPH:LAB has been seeking “to advance new visions of what a documentary can be in the digital age while using interactive and immersive technologies to contribute to conversations and spotlight the social problems of the world we live in through the artistic view of their creators,” organisers write.
Mara Gourd-Mercado, Head of Industry and Training at CPH:DOX, comments: “We’re delighted to welcome this year’s cohort of international creators to CPH:LAB. Their bold storytelling and inventive approaches point to where immersive documentary is headed next. Watching their ideas develop through the program is a reminder of why we do this work — to push artistic boundaries and open space for meaningful dialogue. We can’t wait to see how they challenge convention and spark change in the years ahead.”
Mark Atkin, Head of Studies at CPH:LAB, comments: “At a time when ‘truth’ is a contested concept and fakery infects our feeds, the role artists have to play in creating documentaries feels more urgent than ever before. Audiences are seeking authenticity and real emotion to provide spiritual and intellectual nourishment when our daily media diet is increasingly comprised of manufactured images and reactions. Artists provide human qualities of nuance and perspective, helping us to swim against the tide of slop and rapid binary judgments.”
Atkin adds: “The artists in this year’s cohort collectively will broaden our horizons, challenge our ethical assumptions, open us up to the lived experiences of others, offering other ways of being – while exciting, delighting, and inspiring us. The CPH:LAB provides an essential platform that can help bring these new visions to life. We provide a team of excellent mentors from different backgrounds and cultures but the participants also help each other, forming a supportive community that lasts long into the future. I look forward to playing my part in forging this social and professional network and to seeing the work that comes to fruition as a result of it.”
The training programme runs as a combination of onsite and online workshops and mentoring sessions spanning from September 2026 to February 2027. The nine projects’ core teams will be working with Atkin and a group of internationally renowned mentors to create a prototype that will be presented at CPH:DOX in March 2027 in Copenhagen.
Throughout the development phase, CPH:LAB seeks to equip participants with more than creative mentorship. The programme builds knowledge and literacy in AI tools and their ethical use, supports green production practices to reduce the environmental footprint of immersive filmmaking, embeds accessibility as a core design principle rather than an afterthought, and helps teams shape an impact strategy so their work can reach and move audiences well beyond the festival, organisers underline.
The first residential workshop will take place in October 2026 in Copenhagen and the projects will work with five international mentors from different creative industries: Vassiliki Khonsari, producer and cofounder of iNK Stories and the award-winning Brooklyn studio; Annette Mees, artistic director and creative producer; Lawrence Bennett, experience designer at No Ghost. For the first time, in this edition CPH:LAB will collaborate with Siri Buric, curator of Copenhagen Contemporary, and Joe Bini, editor, producer and storyteller, who brings his years of experience on imaginative storytelling techniques and practices to the LAB, “one of the central pillars of compelling immersive experiences,” the festival writes
In this year’s edition, the Lab will also welcome teams of artists from the Philippines, Ukraine and India for the first time, drawing inspiration from local stories, rooted in local culture, and yet of universal interest. “CPH:LAB values fostering collaborations across countries and diverse areas of art, film, science and technology, and we are beyond excited to be able to facilitate these collaborations,” write organisers.
See a list of the nine projects and teams selected for CPH:LAB 2026/2027 below, and click here to read more about each project.
- Echoes From Inside (Germany) by Leniko Sennoma
- Once Upon A Time There Were Forests (Denmark) by Maria Kristensen, Vibeke Bryld
- Primordial Portal (Phillippines/United States) by Inshallah Montero, Datu Arayan Lantong, Ryan Barton, Otto Hernandez
- Room of Incidents (Ukraine) by Kateryna Krokha
- The Flamboyants (France/Chile) by Billie Sorribes, Selva Gonzalez, Marie Point
- The river where you set your foot just now is gone (Greece) by Alexandra Niaka, Fanis Sakkelariou
- This Pleasant Lady (United Kingdom/Italy) by Victoria Mapplebeck, Sandra Gaudenzi, Jamie Perera, Michelle Feuerlicht
- Weathering Forms (France/Norway) by Chloe Reymond, Torben Snekkestad, Perrine Feminier
- Jayalakshmi – One Body, Many Worlds (India) by Avinash Kumar, Jayalakshmi Eshwar, Sri Rama Murty Mallishetty
CPH:LAB track record
Projects from the previous editions of CPH:LAB have travelled the world and had their premieres and participation in international events. From the most recent editions, these include:
- Dark Rooms (CPH:LAB 2021/2022) by Mads Damsbo, Laurits Flensted Jensen, Anne Sofie Steen Sverdrup, which premiered at Venice Biennale Immersive 2025 and had its Danish Premiere at CPH:DOX’s INTER:ACTIVE Exhibition.
- Collateral Echoes (CPH:LAB 2022/2023) by Baff Akoto, which premiered at Sheffield DocFest 2025.
