CPH:DOX 2026 unveils its competition programme

At the heart of the festival are six juried competition sections overseen by esteemed international experts, as well as a €10,000 Audience Award, sponsored by the Danish public service broadcaster, DR. The program is anchored by the flagship competition section, the DOX:AWARD, which comes with a €10,000 prize, sponsored by Politiken Fonden, celebrating artistic excellence. The DOX:AWARD Competition consists of 12 new feature films, all of them world premieres. The five remaining competitions – each with a €5,000 prize – target distinct cinematic focuses. Supported by International Media Support (IMS) and the Danish Union of Journalists, the F:ACT Competition bridges filmmaking and investigative journalism; the HUMAN:RIGHTS Competition, sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, highlights stories in defence of human rights; NEW:VISION celebrates artists’ films and boundary-pushing cinematic experiments; NEXT:WAVE spotlights emerging filmmakers and new cinematic currents; and NORDIC:DOX showcases the best regional documentaries from the Nordics.

The 2026 edition welcomes a new mark of distinction with the introduction of the FIPRESCI Award, presented by the International Federation of Film Critics, for which the 12 films in the DOX:AWARD Competition are nominated. CPH:DOX also presents a selection of the films nominated for the 2026 Doc Alliance Award, in collaboration with the seven European festivals in the Doc Alliance network.

Niklas Engstrøm, Artistic Director of CPH:DOX, says:

“We are living through a period in which the frameworks that once felt stable – political, moral, even cognitive – are shifting beneath our feet. Institutions are tested, conflicts intensify, and new technologies challenge our understanding of perception and agency. In such a moment, documentary cinema becomes more than observation; it becomes a space for sustained attention. The films in this year’s competition lineup resist simplification and speed. They insist on complexity, on ambiguity, and on the dignity of lived experience.”

Mads K. Mikkelsen, Head of Program of CPH:DOX, says:

“Documentary is an art form, and we are immensely excited to present a competition lineup of highly contemporary films that critically and creatively reflect the troubled times we live in. The selection explores the possibilities of 21st century cinema in a spirit of humanism, solidarity and poetry, with great trust in their audience. We are deeply grateful to all the filmmakers and look forward to celebrating with them, and to seeing their films light up the screens.”

And the nominees (in alphabetical order) are:

DOX:AWARD

• A Song Without Home / Director: Rati Tsiteladze, Producer: Rati Tsiteladze, Olga Slusareva / Georgia, United States / World Premiere
• Amazomania / Director: Nathan Grossman, Producer: Cecilia Nessen / Sweden, Denmark, France / World Premiere
• Arctic Link / Director: Ian Purnell, Producer: Franziska Sonder / Switzerland / World Premiere
• Christiania / Director: Karl Friis Forchhammer, Producer: Rikke Tambo / Denmark / World Premiere
• Daughters of the Forest: Mycelium Chronicles / Director: Otilia Portillo, Producer: Paula Arroio, Elena Fortes / Mexico, United States / World Premiere
• Little Sinner / Director: Daro Hansen, Thomas Papapetros, Producer: Thor Hampus Bank / Denmark / World Premiere
• MARIINKA / Director: Pieter-Jan De Pue, Producer: Bart Van Langendonck / Belgium / World Premiere
• Petrolheads / Director: Emil Langballe, Producer: Julie Walenciak, Claes Hedlund / Denmark / World Premiere
• Something Familiar / Director: Rachel Taparjan, Producer: Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan & Aleksandra Bilic, Elena Martin / Romania, United Kingdom / World Premiere
• The Cord / Director: Nolwenn Hervé, Producer: Estelle Robin You / France / World Premiere
• The Sandbox / Director: Kenya-Jade Pinto, Producer: Shasha Nakhai, Kenya-Jade Pinto / Canada / World Premiere
• Whispers in May / Director: Dongnan Chen, Producer: Jia Zhao / Hong Kong, Netherlands, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Sweden / World Premiere

F:ACT AWARD

• All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea / Director: Jeanie Finlay, Producer: Charlie Phillips, Jeanie Finlay / United Kingdom / World Premiere
• Atlas of Disappearance / Director: Manuel Correa, Producer: Anna Giralt Gris, Jorge Caballero Ramos, Emil Olsen / Spain / World Premiere
• Cambodian Beer Dreams / Director: Laurits Nansen, Producer: Malene Flindt Pedersen, Signe Skov Thomsen, Ove Rishøj Jensen, Valérie Montmartin / Denmark, Sweden, France / World Premiere
• Hell’s Army / Director: Richard Rowley, Producer: Atanas Georgiev, Richard Butler / Ukraine, Syria, Central African Republic, Lithuania, United States / World Premiere
• In Full Agreement / Director: Panu Suuronen, Producer: Susanna Lasarov / Finland / International Premiere
• Intelligence Rising / Director: Elena Andreicheva, Producer: Elena Andreicheva, Sean Richard, Mandy Chang / United Kingdom / World Premiere
• Just Look Up / Director: Emma Wall, Betsy Hershey, Producer: Signe Byrge Sørensen, Natja Rosner / United States, Denmark / World Premiere
• Kikuyu Land / Director: Andrew H. Brown, Bea Wangondu, Producer: Andrew H. Brown, Moses Bwayo, Joseph Njenga, Bea Wangondu, Mike Morrisroe / United States, Kenya / International Premiere
• Materia Prima / Director: Jens Schanze, Producer: Jens Schanze, Thomas Tielsch / Germany / World Premiere
• Techplomacy / Director: Susanne Kovacs, Producer: Good Company Pictures / Denmark / World Premiere
• The Great Experiment / Director: Stephen Maing, Eric Daniel Metzgar, Producer: Stephen Maing, Eric Daniel Metzgar, Farihah Zaman / United States, Mexico / International Premiere

HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD

• American Doctor / Director: Poh Si Teng, Producer: Kirstine Barfod, Poh Si Teng, Reem Haddad, Simon Kilmurry, Hamza Ali, Mohammed Sawwaf / United States, Palestine, Malaysia, Denmark / International Premiere
• Atlas of Disappearance / Director: Manuel Correa, Producer: Anna Giralt Gris, Jorge Caballero Ramos, Emil Olsen / Spain / World Premiere
• Burning Voice / Director: Anna Bruun Nørager, Producer: Maria Stevnbak Westergren, Zahraa Ghandour / Denmark, Iraq / World Premiere
• Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me / Director: Mohammed Sawwaf, Producer: Sylvia Sahawneh / Palestine, Qatar, Netherlands / International Premiere
• Killing Anna / Director: Sam Benstead, Producer: Matt Cole, Charly Wai Feldman / United Kingdom / World Premiere
• Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie / Director: Alex Gibney, Producer: Erin Edeiken, Sruthi Pinnamaneni, Alex Gibney / United States / International Premiere
• Let Our Mountains Live / Director: Håvard Bustnes, Producer: Johannes Vang, Håvard Bustnes / Norway, Finland / World Premiere
• Out of School / Director: Hind Bensari, Producer: Vibeke Vogel, Alaa Eddine Alljem / Morocco, Denmark / World Premiere
• Scarlet Girls / Director: Paula Cury Melo, Paula Cury, Producer: Samuel Didonato, Paula Cury / Dominican Republic, Germany, Mexico / World Premiere
• The Phantom Pain of Rojava / Director: Maryam Embrahimi, Producer: Stina Gardell, Kristine Ann Skaret / Sweden, Norway / World Premiere

NEW:VISION

• Aerial / Director: Aida Berisha, Producer: Ryan Sherman, Federica Vegnani / Denmark, Italy / World Premiere
• Boy Cried Wolf / Director: Max Göran, Producer: Max My Göran / Germany, Sweden / World Premiere
• City of Light / Director: Joséphine Privat, Producer: Odile Mendez Bonito / France / International Premiere
• Compact Disc / Director: Rico Wong, Producer: Hau Chun Chan, Jessie Yang / Hong Kong, United Kingdom / World Premiere
• Fallen Noon / Director: Kieu Anh Phuong Nguyen, Producer: Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains / France, Vietnam / World Premiere
• here and not here / Director: Andrea Zimmerman, Producer: Andrea Luka Zimmerman / Palestine, United Kingdom / International Premiere
• Jirapo / Director: María Rojas Arias, Producer: Andrés Jurado / Colombia, Portugal / European Premiere
• Local Sensations / Director: Tulapop Saenjaroen, Producer: Kardpol Nitipisanon / Thailand / European Premiere
• Nurses come and go, but none for me / Director: Ed Atkins, Steven Zultanski, Producer: Pinky Ghundale / United Kingdom / International Premiere
• Pacífico / Director: Daniel Duque, Producer: Daniel Duque / France, Colombia / World Premiere
• Penkelemes / Director: Onyeka Igwe, Producer: Onyeka Igwe, Odunayo Odeyotin / Nigeria, United Kingdom / International Premiere
• Phantoms / Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Producer: Julia Kozakiewicz, Pinky Ghundale / Netherlands, Thailand / International Premiere
• The Futora / Director: Yuqing Lin, Producer: Yuqing Lin / China, United Kingdom / World Premiere
• The Park (Dancing on the Rubble of Empire) / Director: Arwa Aburawa, Turab Shah, Producer: Turab Shah, Arwa Aburawa / United Kingdom / World Premiere
• They (no longer) remember / Director: Hira Nabi, Producer: Hira Nabi / Pakistan / World Premiere
• This suffocating now / Director: Vika Kirchenbauer, Producer: Vika Kirchenbauer / Germany / International Premiere
• ti y l tt e dr ps ff sp c / Director: Anne Gry Friis Kristensen, Producer: Anne Gry Friis Kristensen / Denmark / World Premiere
• Your Cards Are Bleeding / Director: Kåre Frang, Producer: Ali Khurshid, Kåre Frang / Denmark / World Premiere

NEXT:WAVE

• Becoming Ema / Director: Patricia Drati, Producer: Maria Helga Stürup, Sidsel Lønvig Siersted / Denmark, Spain, Slovakia / World Premiere
• Dream of Another Summer / Director: Irene Bartolomé, Producer: Pere Marzo, Elie Kamal, Irene Bartolomé / Spain, Lebanon / World Premiere
• I Heard That They Are Not Going To See Each Other Anymore / Director: Ka Ki Wong, Producer: Ping-chia Chen, Ka Leung Ng / Taiwan, Hong Kong, Türkiye, United Kingdom / World Premiere
• If Luck Will Come / Director: Camille Bildsøe, Producer: Sofie Husum Johannesen / Denmark / World Premiere
• Last Movies / Director: Stanley Schtinter, Producer: Stanley Schtinter / United Kingdom / World Premiere
• Like Any Other Mortal / Director: Maria Molina Peiró, Producer: Manon Bovenkerk, Carlota Coloma, Adrià Lahuerta / Netherlands, Spain / International Premiere
• Matter of Britain / Director: Peter Treherne, Producer: Peter Treherne, Jane Urquhart, Anna Thompson / United Kingdom / European Premiere
• Social Landscapes / Director: Jonas Meier, Producer: Niels Vije / Switzerland / International Premiere
• The Calf Doll / Director: Ankur Hooda, Producer: Ankur Hooda, Co-Producers: Ayushi Gupta, Anish Sarai/ India / World Premiere
• The Mother Age / Director: Irene Kaltenborn, Producer: Irene Kaltenborn, Marco Peegel / Norway / World Premiere
• The Way Elsewhere / Director: Eirini Vourloumis, Producer: Leonidas Liambeys / Greece / International Premiere
• This is Not a French Film / Director: Tom Adjibi, Producer: Walid Bekhti, Clothilde Bunod / Belgium, France / World Premiere
• Where the Silence is Heard / Director: Gabriela Pena & Picho García, Producer: Picho García, Gabriela Pena, Gabriela Sandoval, Efthymia Zymvragaki / Chile, Spain / World Premiere

NORDIC:DOX

• A Sweetness from Nowhere / Director: Ester Bergsmark, Producer: Anna-Maria Kantarius / Sweden, Norway / World Premiere
• Almost Forever / Director: Lia Hietala, Hannah Reinikainen, Producer: Melissa Lindgren / Sweden, Finland / World Premiere
• Amongst the Birds / Director: Mika Kaurismäki, Ragnar Axelsson, Ingvar Þórðarson, Producer: Ingvar H. Þórðarson / Iceland / World Premiere
• Birita / Director: Búi Dam, Producer: Jón Hammer, Durita Sumberg, Mark Steele / Faroe Islands / World Premiere
• Fire, Water, Earth, Air / Director: Phie Ambo, Phie Ambo, Ewa Cederstam, Janne Lindgren, Rógvi Rasmussen, Producer: Rikke Tambo Andersen, Stina Gardell, Jón Hammer / Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Faroe Islands / World Premiere
• Homesick / Director: Taekyung Tanja In Wol Sørensen, Producer: Rikke Tambo Andersen, Sona Jo, Virpi Suutari / Denmark, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Finland / World Premiere
• In Defense of Self / Director: Linn Helene Løken, Producer: Linn Helene Løken / Norway / World Premiere
• King Hamlet / Director: Elvira Lind, Producer: Sara Stockmann, Sofia Sondervan / United States, Denmark / European Premiere
• Let Our Mountains Live / Director: Håvard Bustnes, Producer: Johannes Vang, Håvard Bustnes / Norway, Finland / World Premiere
• The Arctic Circle of Lust / Director: Markku Heikkinen, Producer: Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen, Dirk Manthey, Fredrik Lange / Finland, Germany, Sweden / International Premiere
• The Lives of My Father / Director: Magnus Skatvold, Producer: Hilde Håbjørg, Kristian Karlsen / Norway / International Premiere
• The Secret Reading Club of Kabul / Director: Shakiba Adil, Elina Hirvonen, Producer: Marko Talli, Johanna Raita / Finland, Norway / World Premiere

The international juries will be announced next week with the full programme launch, on February 18, 2026.