CPH:DOX 2025 unveils competition program and this year’s juries

When CPH:DOX opens its doors for the 22nd time from March 19-30, it will once again aim to present audiences with exceptional documentaries from around the world and create a space for meaningful discussions on today’s most pressing issues through talks, debates, and events. After reviewing thousands of submissions, the programming team is ready to soon reveal the carefully curated program, which this year consists of more than 200 titles. The full festival program will be released on February 26, but the films competing for the festival’s six prestigious awards can already be announced.

Mads K. Mikkelsen, Head of Program of CPH:DOX, says:
“It is very exciting to share a competition line up that truly represents documentary as an art form made for the cinema. CPH:DOX is about celebrating documentaries and the people who make them, and programming this year’s festival has been a journey rich with discoveries. We are deeply grateful to the filmmakers and look forward to seeing their films light up the screens soon.”

As a contemporary documentary festival, CPH:DOX actively seeks to reflect today’s major themes and conflicts through its program. This is evident in the F:ACT Award competition, which spotlights films at the intersection of cinematic documentary art and investigative journalism, as well as in the newest competition, the HUMAN:RIGHTS Award, dedicated to films shedding light on human rights violations worldwide. This year’s main competition, the DOX:AWARD consisting solely of world premieres for the third consecutive year, also mirrors the state of the world in 2025.

Niklas Engstrøm, Artistic Director of CPH:DOX, says:
“The times we live in are increasingly marked by conflict, chaos, and cynicism, leaving little room for the visionary or the poetic. Against that backdrop, we are proud to present a competition program that not only reflects the world but also refracts its light like a prism. Whether set in Ukraine, Mozambique, America, or China, the nominated films in this year’s program stand as a defense of the role of poetry and art in the world.”

CPH:DOX Awards and Categories
The CPH:DOX awards have long been a significant recognition of the winning films and their artistic visions. Winning an award here is not just an honor—it has often served as a springboard for filmmakers to strengthen their position in the film world or take the final step toward an international breakthrough. The juries for each category are composed of carefully selected profiles from the global film industry.

The Six Competitions Judged by International Juries:

• DOX:AWARD: Sponsored by Politiken with a prize of €10,000, this is the festival’s main competition, honoring films with artistic quality, cultural relevance, and strong personal expression. All 12 nominated films are world premieres.
• NEW:VISION Award (€5,000) celebrates art films and boundary-pushing experiments.
• NEXT:WAVE Award (€5,000) highlights new and emerging filmmakers.
• NORDIC:DOX Award (€5,000) honors standout documentaries from the Nordic region.
• F:ACT Award: Supported by International Media Support and the Danish Union of Journalists with a prize of €5,000, this category recognizes films blending documentary and investigative journalism.
• HUMAN:RIGHTS Award: Awarded for the second consecutive year, sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights with a prize of €5,000, focusing on films dealing with human rights issues.

Audience Award: With a prize of €10,000, this allows festival-goers to vote for their favorite film, emphasizing CPH:DOX’s dedication to engaging audiences across the documentary genre’s many facets.

These six competitions and the audience award reflect the festival’s broad scope and offer space for films that create both personal and global resonance.

You can find this year’s juries here.

 

And the nominees are:

 

DOX:AWARD:

À demain sur la lune
(Director: Thomas Balmès, Producer: Thomas Balmès / France, USA / World Premiere)

Agatha’s Almanac
(Director: Amalie Atkins, Producer: Amalie Atkins / Canada / World Premiere)

Always
(Director: Deming Chen, Producer: Hansen Lin / USA, France, China / World Premiere) 

Balane 3
(Director: Ico Costa, Producer: Terratreme Filmes / Portugal, France / World Premiere)

Facing War
(Director: Tommy Gulliksen, Producers: Anne Marte Blindheim, Danielle Turkov Wilson / Norway, Belgium / World Premiere)

Flophouse America
(Director: Monica Strømdahl, Producer: Breathe Hofseth, Siri Natvik / Norway, The Netherlands, USA / World Premiere)

My Dear Theo
(Director: Alisa Kovalenko, Producer: Kasia Kuczynska / Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine / World Premiere) 

Sanatorium
(Director, Gar O’Rourke, Producer: Andrew Freedman, Samantha Corr, Ken Wardop / Ireland, Ukraine, France / World Premiere)

The Castle
(Directors: Danny Biancardi, Virginia Nardelli, Stefano La Rosa, Producers: Nadège Labé, Giulia Campagna, Stefano Collizzolli / France, Italy / World Premiere)

The Father, The Sons and The Holy Spirit
(Director: Christian Sønderby Jepsen, Producer: Mira Jargil / Denmark / World Premiere)

The Helsinki Effect
(Director: Arthur Franck, Producers: Sandra Enkvist, Arthur Franck, Oskar Forstén, Stefan Kloos, Anja Dziersk, Thorvald Nilsen / Finland, Germany, Norway / World Premiere)

We Live Here
(Director: Zhanana Kurmasheva, Producer: Banu Ramazanova / Kazakhstan / World Premiere)

 

NEW:VISION Award:

All These Summers
(Director: Therese Henningsen, Producer: Therese Henningsen / UK, Denmark / World Premiere)

Available Light
(Director: Morgan Quaintance, Producer: Morgan Quaintance / UK / World Premiere)

City Child
(Director: Austin Lynch, Producer: Austin Lynch, Andro Steinbron / USA, Germany / World Premiere)

Fear Fokol
(Director: Tuva Björk, Producer: Dennis Harvey  / Sweden, International Premiere)

Green Grey Black Brown
(Director: Yuyan Wang, Producer: Yuyan Wang / South Korea, France, China / World Premiere)

Illiyeen
(Director: Eliyah Mesayer, Nanna Rebekka, Producer: Rebekka Laugesen / Denmark / World Premiere)

Images de Tunisie
(Director: Younes Ben Slimane, Producer: Jane Pavitt, Younes Ben Slimane / UK, Tunisia / World Premiere)

International Satan’s Day
(Director: Raed Yassin, Producer: Raed Yassin / Lebanon / World Premiere)

Melted into the Sun
(Director: Saodat Ismailova, Producer: Leonardo Bigazzi / Uzbekistan, Italy, Portugal / World Premiere)

Perishable Idol
(Director: Majid Al-Remaihi, Producer: Le Fresnoy: François Bonenfant / France, Kuwait, Qatar / World Premiere)

Ramallah, Palestine, December 2018 
(Director: Juliette Le Monnyer, Producer: Juliette Le Monnyer, Ellen Meiresonne / Belgium / World Premiere)  

Scrap 
(Director: Noémie Lobry, Producer: Marion Darrieux / France / European Premiere)  

Sinking Latitude 
(Director: Jiawei Zheng, Producer: Jiawei Zheng /Denmark, China / World Premiere)  

Songbook 
(Director: Mariah Garnett, Producers: Mariah Garnett, Jibz Cameron / USA / World Premiere)  

Siticulosa 
(Director: Maeve Brennan, Producers: Maeve Brennan, Ali Roche / UK, Denmark / World Premiere) 

Time Paradox 
(Director: Minha Park, Producer: Minha Park / South Korea / World Premiere)  

Unstable Rocks 
(Director: Ewelina Rosinska, Producers: Ewelina Rosinska, Nuno Barroso / Germany, Portugal / International Premiere)

NEXT:WAVE Award:

50 Meters 
(Director: Yomna Khattab, Producers: Ahmed Amer, Patricia Drati / Egypt, Denmark / World Premiere)  

Abode of Dawn 
(Director: Kristina Shtubert, Producer: Kristina Shtubert / Germany / International Premiere)  

Copan 
(Director: Carine Wallauer, Producers: Viviane Mendonça, Camilo Cavalcanti, Nabil Bellahsene, Justin Pechberty / Brazil, France / World Premiere)  

Fantastic Family 
(Director: Nicoline Skotte, Producer: Vibeke Vogel / Denmark / World Premiere)  

I am Night at Noonday 
(Director: Gaspard Hirschi, Producer: Quentin Laurent / France / International Premiere)

ILOVERUSS 
(Director: Tova Mozard, Producers: Daniel Pynnönen, Alice Sunnelius Aldén / Sweden / World Premiere)  

Latina, Latina 
(Director: Adrian Duncan, Producer: Adrian Duncan / Ireland / International Premiere)  

Open Call 
(Director: Sille Storihle, Producer: Sille Storihle / Norway / World Premiere)  

The Golden Spurtle 
(Director: Constantine Costi, Producers: Rebecca Lamond, John Archer / UK, Australia / World Premiere)  

Red Forest 
(Director: Laurie Lassalle, Producer: Frédéric Féraud / France / World Premiere)

Unanimal 
(Directors: Sally Jacobson, Tuva Bjork, Producers: Victor Ede, Melissa Lindgren / Sweden, France / World Premiere)  

Who Witnessed the Temples Fall 
(Director: Lucia Selva, Producers: Guillem Mula Blanch, Alejandro González Clemente, Daniel Peña, Irene M. Borrego / Spain / World Premiere)

 

NORDIC:DOX Award:

Fighter 
(Directors: Sunniva Sundby, Mari Bakke Riise, Producer: Mari Bakke Riise / Norway / International Premiere)  

If I Die Today 
(Director: Camilla Arlien, Producer: Marie Schmidt Olesen / Denmark / World Premiere)  

The Nicest Men on Earth  
(Directors: Josefine Exner, Sebastian Gerdes, Producer: Mathilde Hvid Lippmann / Denmark / World Premiere)  

Portrait of a Confused Father
(Director: Gunnar Hall Jensen, Producers: Christian Aune Falch, Torstein Parelius / Norway / World Premiere)  

Lowland Kids 
(Director: Sandra Winther, Producers: William Crouse, Lauren Avinoam, Lizzie Gillett, Brendan Naylor, Sigrid Dyekjær, Darren Aronofsky / Denmark, USA / World Premiere)  

The Ground Beneath Our Feet  
(Director: Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Producer: Hanna Björk Valsdóttir / Iceland, Poland / World Premiere)  

The Last Misfits by The Golden River 
(Director: Juho-Pekka Tanskanen, Producer: Isabella Karhu / Finland / World Premiere)  

The Sequel to Summer Rain 
(Director: Viktor Johansson, Producer: Linus Andersson / Sweden / International Premiere)  

Walls – Akinni Inuk 
(Directors: Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg, Sofie Rørdam, Producer: Emile Hertling Péronard / Greenland / World Premiere)  

Witch 
(Director: Emil Nørgaard Munk, Producers: Thor Hampus Bank, Emil Lynge Johnsen / Denmark / World Premiere)  

Zlatan’s Nose 
(Directors: Nils Toftenow, Mathias Rosberg, Olle Toftenow, Producer: Olle Toftenow / Sweden / World Premiere)

 

F:ACT Award:

2000 Meters to Andriivka 
(Director: Mstyslav Chernov, Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath / Ukraine / European Premiere)  

Antidote 
(Director: James Jones, Producer: James Jones / UK / World Premiere of new and updated version)  

K-Number 
(Director: Seyoung Jo, Producer: Dukjoong Kim / South Korea / International Premiere)  

Men of War 
(Directors: Jen Gatien, Billy Corben, Producers: Alfred Spellman, Jen Gatien, Billy Corben / USA, Canada / European Premiere)  

Predators 
(Director: David Osit, Producers: Kellen Quinn, Jamie Gonçalves / USA / International Premiere)  

The End of the Internet 
(Director: Dylan Reibling, Producer: Dylan Reibling / Canada / World Premiere)  

The Eukrainian 
(Director: Viktor Nordenskiöld, Producers: Christian Popp, Malcolm Dixelius, Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Sergio Ghizzardi / Sweden, France, Ukraine, Belgium / World Premiere)  

The Gardener, the Buddhist & the Spy 
(Director: Håvard Bustnes, Producers: Carsten Aanonsen, Håvard Bustnes / Norway, Germany, UK / World Premiere)  

The Last Ambassador 
(Director: Natalie Halla, Producers: Peter Drössler, Arash T. Riahi, Sabine Gruber / Austria / World Premiere)  

The Perfect Neighbor 
(Director: Geeta Gandbhir, Producers: Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, Sam Bisbee / USA / International Premiere)

 

HUMAN:RIGHTS Award:

9-Month Contract 
(Director: Ketevan Vashagashvili, Producers: Anna Khazaradze, Nino Chichua, Martichka Bozhilova, Sylvia Nagel / Georgia, Bulgaria, Germany / World Premiere)  

2000 Meters to Andriivka 
(Director: Mstyslav Chernov, Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath / Ukraine / European Premiere)  

Black Water 
(Director: Natxo Leuza, Producer: Lucía Benito / Spain / World Premiere)  

Girls & Gods 
(Directors: Verena Soltiz, Arash T. Riahi, Producers: Arash T. Riahi, Peter Drössler, Sabine Gruber, Sarah Schiesser, Rhea Plangg, Amel Soudani / Austria / World Premiere)  

Little Syria 
(Directors: Madalina Rosca, Reem Karssli, Producers: Paul Arne Wagner, Madalina Rosca / Portugal, Romania, Germany / World Premiere)  

Matabeleland 
(Director: Nyasha Kadandara, Producer: Sam Soko / Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana / World Premiere)  

Moria Six 
(Director: Jennifer Mallmann, Producer: Matthias Drescher / Germany / International Premiere)  

The Dialogue Police 
(Director: Susanna Edwards, Producer: Susanna Edwards / Sweden / International Premiere)  

The Encampments
(Directors: Michael T. Workman, Kei Pritsker, Producers: Matthew Belen, Munir Atalla, Kei Pritsker, Michael T. Workman / USA / World Premiere)  

The Lions By The River Tigris 
(Director: Zaradasht Ahmed, Producers: Thorvald Nilsen, Harmen Jalvingh, Hester Breunissen / Norway, Netherlands / World Premiere)

________________________

About CPH:DOX

CPH:DOX – Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, is a world leading documentary film festival supporting independent and innovative filmmaking and presenting the best and brightest in contemporary non-fiction film. The festival is known and widely respected for radically changing the documentary landscape with a focus on challenging the genre with crossover to other art forms, and for advancing art as an active voice in civil society. Annually presenting approx. 200 films, the yearly festival’s audience has grown to more than 125,000, and our industry platform, championing high-end cinematic and hybrid filmmaking welcomes 2,000+ industry professionals annually from a wide variety of sectors across creative documentary, hybrid non-fiction, visual arts, journalism and science. 

 

For further information:

Nicolai Oreskov Westh, Head of Communication, nicolai@cphfilmfestivals.dk +45 29897093

 

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