The winners of the international competitions at CPH:DOX 2025 were announced March 28 during the festival’s Award Show at Kunsthal Charlottenborg. The international competition lineup included a total of 71 films in competition, in 6 different categories, featuring 56 world premieres, 12 international premieres, and 3 European premieres. The main prize DOX:AWARD was won awarded by Always by Deming Chen.
Besides the festival’s main prize, the Dox:Award, prizes have been awarded in the categories F:act Award, Nordic:Dox Award, New:Vision Award, Next:Wave Award, Human:Rights Award and Inter:Active Award. The Audience Award will announced April 4 as the online festival unfolds, providing a chance for audiences based outside of Copenhagen to vote for their favourite film.
- DOX:AWARD Winner: ‘ALWAYS’ by Deming Chen, US, FR & CN / 2025 / World Premiere. Special Mention: FLOPHOUSE AMERICA’ by Monica Strømdahl, NO, NL & US / 2025 / World Premiere. With a prize of €10,000, the DOX:AWARD is the festival’s main competition, honouring films with artistic quality, cultural relevance, and strong personal expression. The jury consisted of Rikke Tambo Andersen, Max Kestner, Nicolas Rapold, Adele Tulli and Raul Niño Zambrano.
- F:ACT AWARD Winner: ‘2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA’ by Mstyslav Chernov, UA / 2025 / European Premiere. Special Mention: ‘THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR’ by Geeta Gandbhir. US / 2025 / International Premiere. Wwth a prize of €5,000, the F:act Award competition recognizes films blending documentary and investigative journalism. The jury consisted of Alexis Bloom, Mikala Krogh and Steffi Niederzoll.
- HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD Winner: ‘9-MONTH CONTRACT’ by Ketevan Vashagashvili, GE, BG & DE / 2025 / World Premiere. Special Mention: ‘THE ENCAMPMENTS’ by Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker, US / 2025 / World Premiere. The Human:Rights Award is sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights with a prize of €5,000, and focuses on films dealing with human rights issues. The jury consisted of Mohamed Saïd Ouma, Tomáš Poštulka and Birgitte Stærmose.
- NORDIC:DOX AWARD Winner: ‘WALLS – AKINNI INUK’ by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam, GL/ 2025 / World Premiere. Special Mention: ‘THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH’ by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes. DK / 2025 / World Premiere. The NORDIC:DOX Award (€5,000) honors standout documentaries from the Nordic region. The jury consisted of Butheina Kazim, Dario Oliveira and Roja Pakari.
- NEXT:WAVE AWARD Winner: ‘ABODE OF DAWN’ by Kristina Shtubert, DE / 2024 / International Premiere. Special Mention: ‘WHO WITNESSED THE TEMPLES FALL’ by Lucía Selva. SP / 2025 / World Premiere. The NEXT:WAVE Award (€5,000) highlights new and emerging filmmakers. The jury consisted of Sissel Morell Dargis, Sona Karapoghosyan and María Palacios Cruz.
- NEW:VISION Winner: ‘RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, DECEMBER 2018’ by Juliette Le Monniyer. BE / 2025 / World Premiere. Special mention: ‘SCRAP’ by Noémie Lobry, FR / 2025 / World Premiere. The NEW:VISION Award (€5,000) celebrates art films and boundary-pushing experiments. The jury consisted of Mason Leaver-Yap, Jeppe Lange and Marina Kožul.
- INTER:ACTIVE AWARD Winner: ‘CONSTANTINOPOLIAD’ by Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly, UK / Installation / 2025 / International Premiere. Special Mention: ‘THE GARDEN SAYS…’ by Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breyne. DK / XR Perfomance-Installation / 2025 / World Premiere. The award winner will receive a winning package including two complimentary industry accreditations for Sunny Side of the Doc, two full access accreditations for the Industry Days of New Images Festival, 6 hours of legal consultation on European IP law and a cash prize of €1000. The jury consisted of Irene Campolmi, David Adler and Carl Emil Carlsen.
