The Encampments

Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker / United States / 2025 / World Premiere / 85 min

On a cold morning last April, a group of students set up camp on the lawn of Columbia University in New York. They founded the Gaza Solidarity Encampment to protest the war in Gaza, and to protest their own university’s investment in the US and Israeli arms industry. An action that made waves around the world and quickly grew into the largest protest movement since the Vietnam War.

But the world is different today. ‘The Encampments’ is a film about power and resistance in the 21st century, where both have taken on new forms. At the same time, the role of universities as bastions of democracy, critical thinking and freedom of expression is under pressure. We are thrown into the high-voltage drama with full access to the hard core of dedicated organizers. Even as the growing group of pro-Palestinian activists themselves face fierce resistance from the police, the media and their own fellow students. A reportage from the fluid frontline of an ideological conflict about right and wrong.

Familiarise yourself with human rights at CPH:DOX
According to a new survey from the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Danes largely support human rights and believe they are important – but more than half, 53 percent, cannot name a single human right. At the premiere screenings of all films nominated for the Human Rights Award, you will receive the 30 articles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, printed by Human Rights Watch. And below you can see exactly which articles this film addresses.

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.