CPH:INDUSTRY 2026 Award Winners Announced

The Eurimages New Lab Outreach Award

The Eurimages New Lab Outreach Award 2026 worth €30,000 goes to HAUT ET COURT DOC for the CPH:ROUGHCUT project ‘DON’T LET THE SUN GO UP ON ME’ by director ASMAE EL MOUDIR and producer EMMA LEPERS.

On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“For the audacity to shine a light on the bright colours of darkness and reveal a hidden story through a daring, innovative and singular artistic vision, the award goes to HAUT ET COURT DOC for the project ‘DON’T LET THE SUN GO UP ON ME’ by ASMAE EL MOUDIR.”

The Eurimages New Lab Awards celebrate innovative projects by non-conventional filmmakers and visual artists through two awards: The Outreach Award of €30,000 to promote audience outreach for an experimental project in late production or post-production. The jury consists of Elena Fortes, Stefan Prohorov and Sarah Mosses.

The Eurimages New Lab Innovation Award

The Eurimages New Lab Innovation Award 2026 worth €20,000 goes to ANNA LENA FILMS for the CPH:FORUM project ‘COSMOFONIA’ by VÉRÉNA PARAVEL and producer FLORENCE COHEN presented at CPH:DOX.
On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“We are pleased to recognize a project that feels innovative in the truest sense, and that expands the possibilities of presentation beyond the black box. For a project that opens new worlds of previously unheard sounds and unseen images, and that pushes the art of cinema beyond the realm of human perception, the award goes to ANNA LENA FILMS (FR) for the project ‘COSMOFONIA’, by VÉRÉNA PARAVEL.”

The Eurimages New Lab Innovation Award recognizes innovative and experimental projects in development. The jury consists of Carole Kremer, Jesse Cumming and Simon Lajboschitz.

The Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize

The Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize 2026 worth $25,000 goes to the CPH:FORUM project ‘MATRESCENCE’ by director KATHRYN FERGUSON and producers ROSIE CRERAR and ELANOR EMPTAGE.

On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“It’s a film about brave and punk scientists that have to use their own bodies to find answers for the rest of the population. The film we selected sheds light on an urgent, underexplored world of science that affects everyone and we found it had an astonishing blend of artistic merit with scientific inquiry. We want to give the Sandbox Science Award to a film that explores science in a bold and innovative way.

The scientific community is based in collaboration and sharing of knowledge which is deep within the ethos of this project. This project has the potential to have a huge impact in bringing this scientific journey to wider audiences. We are thrilled to present the Sandbox Science Pitch prize to Matrescence, a word we hope soon everyone will know. The prize is going to a fantastic filmmaker team from director Kathryn Ferguson and producer Rosie Crerar and Elanor Emptage.”

The Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize highlights an outstanding science documentary project, providing both financial support and mentorship to bring the filmmakers’ vision to life. The jury consists of Anirban Dutta, Malene Flindt Pedersen and Cleo Veger.

The Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-production Award

The €15,000 Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-Production Award goes to CPH:FORUM project ‘EVERYTHING IS RED AND GREY’ by SHOURIDEH C. MOLAVI and SHROUQ ALAILA.
On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“There were many strong projects among the cohort. Ultimately, the jury was unanimous in our selection. We were especially impressed by the strength of the filmmaking team, the focused POV in creative elements which form a critical account for the historical record, and the undeniable urgency of this project. The award goes to ‘EVERYTHING IS RED AND GREY’.”

The Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-Production Award with a €15,000 prize is awarded to a project highlighting urgent matters of our times from, or about, the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa. The jury consists of Mohamed Elmongy, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Kenya-Jade Pinto.

The ARTE Award

The ARTE Award is handed out to two projects in the form of two consultations with Rough Cut Services totalling a value of €2,500 for each of the two CPH:FORUM projects – ‘EVERYTHING IS RED AND GREY’ by SHOURIDEH C. MOLAVI and SHROUQ ALAILA and ‘WE ARE VOLCANOES’ by SHARON YEUNG and NATALIE CHAO.

I.
On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“When the cameras turn away, and the spotlight fades from places where authoritarian power works to silence democratic voices, this film insists on continuing to look. It reminds us that absence of coverage is not absence of reality.

With a sense of play the directors open a space we rarely get access to: one where activism is not only urgency and risk, but also imagination, humor, and collective invention. The film resists the expected language of political storytelling and instead creates its own – intimate, humorous, and quietly radical.

Silencing can take many forms: erasure, sexual violence, suppression. But so can resistance. What we witness here is how resistance also evolves- through the rebuilding of memory, through the refusal to disappear, and through gestures that accumulate into something larger than the individual.

By weaving together layers of vérité, LiDAR animation, and playful narrative structures, the film expands beyond documentation. It becomes participatory. As spectators, we are not only observing- we are implicated in the act of remembering, of witnessing, of imagining otherwise.
For its originality, its courage, and its insistence on new cinematic languages of resistance, the ARTE Prize is awarded to ‘WE ARE VOLCANOES’.”

II.
On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“This film insists on the necessity of documentaries at a time when the very act of documenting reality is being obstructed, silenced, and erased. It reminds us that images and voices are not just records – they are acts of resistance.
Told from within, the filmmakers craft a cinematic language that is both rich and deeply intimate. Rather than echoing a journalistic language, the film chooses a different path: one that honors the complexity of its subjects through texture, duration, and a quiet but unwavering attention. It is in this insistence on nuance that the film has its strength.

Over nine years, the material has been shot and will be weaved into something that feels lived rather than constructed. The film documents a generation of young journalists and filmmakers who continue to work, to observe, and to create under conditions designed to distract them, exhaust them… and eventually kill them. What emerges is not only a portrait of constraint, but of persistence. The title leans towards poetry, but beneath it lies a reality that is anything but abstract. It is precise, painful, and impossible to ignore – and it stays with us. For its clarity of vision, its integrity, and its commitment to bearing witness, the ARTE Prize is awarded to ‘EVERYTHING IS RED AND GREY’.”

The jury consists of Alexandre Marionneau, Sara Stockmann and Claudio Hughes.

The Jacob Burns Film Center Award

The Jacob Burns Film Center grants one project a stipend and residency including access to editing and post-producing facilities totalling a value of approximately $10,000.

The award goes to the CPH:FORUM project ‘THE CALLING’ by BENIAMINO BARRESE.
On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“We are thrilled to be inviting director Beniamino Barrese and producer Harry Vaughn to the Residency at the Jacob Burns Film Center. Their project, ‘THE CALLING’ promises to be a singularly exploratory endeavor in which a father and son meet halfway between collaboration and confrontation, celebration and familial reckoning. We are excited and grateful that Beniamino and Harry will spend time developing their vision at the Burns this coming year.”

The jury consists of Eric Hynes.

The Rise and Shine Award

The Rise and Shine Award 2026 goes to the CPH:FORUM project ‘MY FATHER THE ICEMAN’ by ŁUKASZ KOWALSKI.

On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“This was a large category, with many remarkable pitches and worthy winners. In the end we felt there was one project which really made the hair stand up on the back of our necks. Taking a very personal angle on a political movement that threatens us all, it offers a unique story. We felt that everywhere in the world, audiences will be touched by this character’s crucial dilemma and the cost of making a courageous choice.”

The Rise and Shine Award provides a cash prize of €3,000 to the project with the best international potential and no sales agent yet attached. The jury consists of Caroline Behar, Emma Simpson, and Stina Gardell.

The Unifrance & Titrafilm Doc Award

The Unifrance & Titrafilm Doc Award 2026 goes to the CPH:FORUM project ‘CHILDREN OF THE MOONLAND’ by ROMAN ĎURIŠ.

On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“In a world that feels broken and uncertain, the need for friendship has never been so strong. This was a project that touched our hearts, which presented dreams as an act of resistance. While powerful tech giants talk of building a new world on the moon, other beautiful young minds are building their own world, in a moon land.”
The Unifrance & Titrafilm Doc Award totalling €5,500 in benefits for the best French production or co-production presented at the forum.

The jury consists of Caroline Behar, Emma Simpson and Stina Gardell.

The Onassis ONX Award 2026

The Onassis ONX Award 2026 goes to the CPH:LAB project ‘STILL POINT, TURNING WORLD’ by lead artist BEN JOSEPH ANDREWS and producer EMMA ROBERTS.

The prize consists of tailored curatorial, technical, and business consultancy with studio access at the Onassis Ready facilities in Athens. The jury consists of Anastasia Mavrogiannis.

The NewImages Festival Award

The NewImages Festival Award 2026 goes to the CPH:LAB project ‘MOURNING GLORY’ by director MATHIUS SCIBOR (AU MATT) and producer PEPE LE PUKE.

The award grants the selected CPH:LAB project an invitation to the XR Development Market 2026 of the NewImages Festival, taking place April 8–12, 2026, at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie. The jury consists of Federico Anselmi.

The DOK Leipzig Award

The DOK Leipzig Award 2026 goes to the CPH:LAB project ‘MOURNING GLORY’ by lead artist MATHIUS SCIBOR (AU MATT) and producer PEPE LE PUKE.

The DOK Leipzig Award offers the selected project participation in the DOK Exchange XR Programme showcase at DOK Leipzig in October 2026. The jury consists of Dana Melaver and Weronika Lewandowska.

The Millennium Docs Against Gravity Award

The Millennium Docs Against Gravity Award 2026 goes to the CHANGE project ‘MY SCHOOL IS SEIZED’ by HALYNA LAVRINETS.

On their motivation for selecting the project, the jury said:

“The project deals with the most vulnerable in the time of war – the children. It requires extra caution and the right attitude. This timely project tries to reveal how the Russian propaganda machine works and who these people are who fight it and have the courage to escape this heartbreaking situation. ‘MY SCHOOL IS SEIZED’ deserves recognition and help in completion.”

The Millennium Docs Against Gravity Award 2026 includes industry accreditations to the next edition of MDAG for two team members, as well as accommodation and travel expenses and a place at the main pitching session, the Progress Pitching Session at MDAG Industry, along with preparatory training with tutors. The jury consists of Artur Liebhart.

Photos: Michael Kaack.