CPH:DOX’ AUDIENCE:AWARD goes to the Danish Andrea Hejlskov portrait ‘Witch’

‘Witch’ prevailed in a thrilling top battle with CPH:DOX opening film ‘Facing War’, festival hit ‘Mr. Nobody against Putin’, ‘Human Race’ about the work of Eske Willerslev and Nicoline Skotte’s Danish debut film ‘A Fantastic Family’. All can be seen on PARA:DOX until April 13.

Some of the audience’s many statements on the film:

“To turn mental illness into a power has never been documented so vividly and strongly”

“Out of all the movies I saw this year, Witch made me feel the most and the most – strong and diverse emotions. I laughed, cried, was confused, curious, happy”

“Very important, moving, and most importantly a *nuanced* portrait of being human, female, witch, being in the world and outside the world and worlds, walking with the pain and gratitude for inner darkness, inner turmoil and inner resurrection. Thank you for this movie”

‘Witch’ follows self-proclaimed Danish ‘völva’ – a woman with magical abilities and spiritual ties to nature in the Nordic Ásatrú faith – Andrea Hejlskov. Hejlskov made headlines in Danish media when she left the rat race of everyday life and moved deep into the Swedish forests with her husband and children in the hope of living more sustainably and in close contact with nature – and wrote the book ‘The Great Escape’ about the process.

Ten years later, she has left the wilderness again and returned to the city and the life that comes with it. And now she finds herself divorced with grown children, unable to write, and in the midst of an intense struggle with her inner life that makes it difficult for her to distinguish between magical omens and psychiatric symptoms. But the desire to create social change still burns strong within her. Emil Nørgaard Munk has created a compelling story in the spirit of his protagonist: a movie about magic, menopause, mental health, and all the pieces that make up an identity.

‘Witch’ is produced by Thor Hampus Bank and Emil Lynge Johnsen for GotFat and had its world premiere at this year’s CPH:DOX in the NORDIC:DOX competition. The film is currently the most viewed film from this year’s festival program at PARA:DOX, where it can be rented as part of the digital festival until Sunday 13 April. This afternoon at 17:00 there will also be an extra screening of ‘Witch’ at Cinemateket.

With the presentation of the AUDIENCE:AWARD, all awards at this year’s CPH:DOX have been handed out:

COMPETITION	CATEGORY	TITLE	DIRECTOR(S)
AUDIENCE:AWARD	WINNER	Witch	Emil Nørgaard Munk
DOX:AWARD	WINNER	Always	Deming Chen
DOX:AWARD	SPECIAL MENTION	Flophouse America	Monica Strømdahl
NEW:VISION AWARD	WINNER	Ramallah, Palestine, December 2018	Juliette Le Monnyer
NEW:VISION AWARD	SPECIAL MENTION	Scrap	Noémie Lobry
F:ACT AWARD	WINNER	2000 Meters to Andriivka	Mstyslav Chernov
F:ACT AWARD	SPECIAL MENTION	The Perfect Neighbor	Geeta Gandbhir
NEXT:WAVE	WINNER	Abode of Dawn	Kristina Shtubert
NEXT:WAVE	SPECIAL MENTION	Who Witnessed the Temples Fall	Lucía Selva
NORDIC:DOX	WINNER	Walls – Akinni Inuk	Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam
NORDIC:DOX	SPECIAL MENTION	The Nicest Men on Earth	Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes
HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD	WINNER	9-month Contract	Ketevan Vashagashvili
HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD	SPECIAL MENTION	The Encampments	Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker
INTERACTIVE:AWARD (art)	WINNER	Constantinopoliad	ARTISTS: Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly
INTERACTIVE:AWARD (art)	SPECIAL MENTION	The Garden Says ( XR Perfomance-Installation)	ARTISTS: Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breyne

About CPH:DOX 2025

CPH:DOX – Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival – is one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals supporting independent and innovative filmmaking. The festival is known for challenging the documentary genre and for promoting art as an active voice in civil society.

In 2025, the festival ran from March 19-30 and featured more than 550 screenings and events around Copenhagen, introducing audiences to the best documentaries from Denmark and abroad while shedding light on some of today’s most controversial and pressing issues.

CPH:DOX has grown out of the capital and now also takes place both digitally on the streaming service PARA:DOX and as local film festivals via DOX:DANMARK, which this year is present in more than half of the Danish municipalities. In 2024, CPH:DOX welcomed more than 125,000 guests across the country.

CPH:DOX and DOX:DANMARK will return on March 11-22, 2026.