CPH:FORUM Rules & Regulations

CPH:FORUM (including CPH:ROUGHCUT)  has a natural emphasis on Scandinavia and Europe but is open to film projects from independent documentary filmmakers, fiction filmmakers, journalists, activists and visual artists worldwide, seeking financing and international market partners. Projects in any production phase are welcome, regardless of the financing in place. Both experienced and emerging filmmakers are welcome to apply. 

Eligible projects must be feature-length films or series (52+ minutes) but projects can also include additional formats like short films, non-linear pieces or installations, etc…

Selection criteria include artistic quality, unique content, subject relevance, international potential and financial feasibility. Projects that have not been presented at any other major international market will be given priority.

Projects submitted to the CPH:DOX 2025 festival programme are not eligible for CPH:FORUM or CPH:ROUGHCUT.

We are thrilled to announce that CPH:FORUM will once again spotlight creative and innovative storytelling through a variety of prestigious awards:

• New Eurimages Lab Awards: Innovation Award & the Outreach Award (for the 2024-2026 cycle):
  -Innovation Award: Recognizing innovative and experimental projects in development, this award includes a cash prize of €20,000.
  -Outreach Award: Aimed at promoting public awareness of innovative projects at the end of production or in post-production, this award offers €30,000.
• Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize Award: celebrating groundbreaking science storytelling, this prize includes a cash award of $25,000.
• The Rise and Shine Award: This award provides a cash prize of €3,000 to the project with the best international potential and no sales agent yet attached.
• Unifrance Doc Award: Aimed for the best French majority or minority co-produced project, this award offers €5,390 in services.

Project applications are accepted only via our online platform on our Visitor Page. The entry fee is 250 DKK (approx. 30 EUR) and must be paid by credit card to complete the submission. Fees are non-refundable, and only fully completed, paid submissions received before the deadline will be considered. Projects will not be evaluated before submission.

Fee waivers are available for countries from the DAC list and European low-AV capacity countries from LCC 2 group (Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia). To request a waiver, email forum@cphdox.dk before submitting. Each production company may submit up to two projects with a fee waiver.

CHANGE applications are free of charge and submitted via a submission form provided by IMS and emailed before the deadline to the contact in the form. 

Selected projects will be presented in the CPH:INDUSTRY catalogue with the information submitted in the application (unless otherwise stated below). The catalogue will be distributed to all CPH:INDUSTRY participants at CPH:DOX 2025. 

If selected you will be asked to provide a final set of stills, texts and a trailer. Only minor changes and updates to the project information will be possible after selection. By providing these materials, you give CPH:DOX permission to use them on our website. 

Note: Some information is publicly available: working title, name of director(s), production country, logline and main still) – while synopsis/treatment, production facts, financial information and trailer) are protected by password and only shared with selected Financiers and Industry Representatives. If selected, confidentiality can be discussed with the Forum team.

CPH:FORUM

All submitted material must be in English and we urge you to have the following ready before you begin the online application process:

• Working Title
• Logline (max. 250 characters incl. spaces)
• Synopsis/treatment (max. 2500 characters incl. spaces)
• Format and anticipated running time
• Production status
• Expected release
• Financing scenario in EUR (total budget, confirmed amount, required amount)
• Confirmed financing (institution/company/source, name of responsible financier, amount in EUR)
• Main production company (company name, country, contact info, short presentation of max. 600 characters incl. spaces)
• Co-production company (if applicable, company name, country)
• Director(s) (name, contact info, picture, short biography (max. 400 characters incl. spaces, filmography of max 3 titles)
• Producer(s) (name, contact info, portrait picture, short biography (max. 400 characters incl. spaces, filmography of max 3 titles)
• Sales agent (if applicable, company)
• Trailer or teaser of max. 3 minutes long (link to online viewing with English subtitles)

For application assessment only (not for publication):

• Director’s statement (max. 2000 characters incl. spaces)
• Target audience and distribution strategy (max. 2000 characters incl. spaces)
• If applicable, at which other markets/workshops the project has been pitched before and year.
• Pitch category applied (FICTIONONFICTION, ART, F:ACT, CINEMA, SCIENCE)
• Indication of goals at CPH:FORUM (Financing, Co-producer, Sales Agent, Distribution)
• Budget and financing plan in EUR (uploaded as pdf)

Further information and documentation may be requested at any time. If selected the pitching teams will have the opportunity to update written materials and the pitching trailer closer to the event, though only minor changes and updates to the project information will be possible after selection.

CPH:ROUGHCUT

• Working Title
• Logline (max. 250 characters incl. spaces)
• Synopsis/treatment (max. 2500 characters incl. spaces)
• Format and anticipated running time
• Production status
• Expected release
• Financing scenario in EUR (total budget, confirmed amount, required amount)
• Confirmed financing (institution/company/source, name of responsible financier, amount in EUR)
• Main production company (company name, country, contact info, short presentation of max. 600 characters incl. spaces)
• Co-production company (if applicable, company name, country)
• Director(s) (name, contact info, picture, short biography (max. 400 characters incl. spaces, filmography of max 3 titles)
• Producer(s) (name, contact info, portrait picture, short biography (max. 400 characters incl. spaces, filmography of max 3 titles)
• Sales agent (if applicable, company)
• Visual sample/Clip(s) max. 20 minutes long (link to online viewing with English subtitles)

For application assessment only (not for publication):

• Director’s statement (max. 2000 characters incl. spaces)
• Target audience and distribution strategy (max. 2000 characters incl. spaces)
• If applicable, at which other markets/workshops the project has been pitched before
• Indication of goals at CPH:FORUM (Financing, Co-producer, Sales Agent, Distribution)
• Detailed budget and financing plan in EUR (uploaded as pdf)

If selected a rough cut file must be ready and available by the end of January 2025.

Please note that CPH:ROUGHCUT applications need to be submitted through a different submission form than CPH:FORUM, also found on our Visitor Page.

Further information and documentation may be requested at any time. If selected the pitching teams will have the opportunity to update written materials and pitching trailer closer to the event, though only minor changes and updates to the project information will be possible after selection.

Around 30 projects will be selected for CPH:FORUM and 5 for CPH:ROUGHCUT. Notification about selection to CPH:FORUM and CPH:ROUGHCUT will be given by mid-January 2025. CHANGE selected teams were notified in September 2024.

See next edition’s key dates under “key dates”.

If selected, the producer and director of the project must register for accreditation and attend CPH:FORUM during CPH:DOX 2025 for the duration of CPH:FORUM in March. Accreditation is free of charge for up to two team members pitching the project, with additional accreditations available for purchase for professionals related to the project.

After CPH:FORUM, participants must complete a questionnaire to help us evaluate the year’s edition, and credit (see below under publications & data policy) CPH:FORUM in the finalised film.

The selection committee’s decisions are final and feedback is not guaranteed for unsuccessful applicants.

Pitching sessions are conducted in English and take place in March 2025. 

• CPH: FORUM pitching teams have 7 minutes to present their project, including visual material, followed by a short 7-minute, moderated discussion with a tailored panel of financiers and industry representatives. 
• CPH:ROUGHCUT pitching teams have 20 minutes to present their project, including a 15-minute preview of edited material, followed by a 5-minute Q&A with the moderator.
• CPH:CHANGE pitching teams have 7 minutes to present their project including visual material, followed by a 5-minute Q&A with the moderator.

All pitching sessions are followed up by individual meetings or roundtables between financiers and industry representatives and pitch teams ,scheduled for 20-30 minutes each. These are arranged in advance by the CPH:FORUM team based on meeting requests from both above mentioned participants.

The online meeting booking system will be open to selected Financiers and Industry Representatives and pitch teams only. Requests can be submitted in early February for a limited period, with detailed guidelines provided to the eligible participants via email in due time. 

The pre-arranged meeting schedules may change during the event based on pitching outcomes. CPH:FORUM aims to book as many relevant meetings as possible for all selected projects. A specific number or timing of meetings cannot be guaranteed, and they may occur before as well as after the pitch. Only financiers and idustry representatives with access to the online meeting booking system can ask for additional meetings on the spot during the event, which the CPH:FORUM staff will try their best to accommodate. 

All participants will also have access to a detailed online guestlist with contact details for all accredited guests, providing them with the chance to arrange additional meetings on their own.

CPH:FORUM is primarily for producers and directors with selected projects, as well as a wide variety of decision makers and stakeholders interested in active attendance. A limited number of seats are available to professionals who wish to attend the three-day financing event as observers with priority given to producers.

Participants must be duly registered with the proper accreditation, based on an invitation or application via the online accreditation form and granted CPH:FORUM seat. Notification about participation in CPH:FORUM will be given as soon as possible and no later than by the end of February 2025.

To secure a granted CPH:FORUM seat, the accreditation fee must be paid before the deadline, after which participation is binding. Paid fees will not be refunded. In case of failure to pay the accreditation fee by the deadline, the seat may be offered to another participant. Read more about accreditations and how to apply here.

Submission of project: 250 DKK (approx. 30 EUR)
Accreditation is free of charge for two members of the creative team of the selected projects (director and producer). Additional accreditation can be purchased. 

CPH:FORUM accreditation gives access to:

• Project presentations
• Tailored match-making (for selected projects)
• Industry networking events
• Access to CPH:MARKET 
• All regular festival screenings & seminars in Copenhagen
• CPH:CONFERENCE
• Festival Center & Guest Desk services
• Delegate bag
• CPH:INDUSTRY catalogue
• Profiles and contact information of accredited guests (online guest list)

Accreditation fees are exclusive of VAT (25%).

PUBLICATIONS

Selected projects will be presented in the CPH:INDUSTRY catalogue with the information submitted for the application (except the items submitted for application assessment only). The catalogue will be distributed to all CPH:INDUSTRY participants at CPH:DOX 2025.

Selected projects will be presented on our website cphdox.dk. A publicly available presentation of the project includes working title, name of the director(s), production country, logline and main picture. In a password protected area for CPH:FORUM decision makers only, the presentation of the project in addition includes the synopsis/treatment, production facts, financial info and trailer/clip.

If selected, you will be asked to provide a final set of stills, texts and trailer. By providing these materials, you give CPH:DOX permission to use them at www.cphdox.dk and for promotional purposes for CPH:FORUM 2025.

Participants will be presented in the CPH:INDUSTRY catalogue with their name, portrait picture, professional title, country, professional biography and contact email. They will also be presented on the CPH:DOX website, where a public presentation includes name, portrait picture, professional title and country, while a password protected area in addition gives CPH:INDUSTRY delegates access to peoples’ professional profile and contact email. Directors of selected projects are offered to present a selected title among their previous work on Festival Scope.

DATA POLICY

By submitting a project, you accept our data policy in accordance with the GDPR. Moreover, during the events we document the process by taking photos or filming and we use this for promoting our events. Lastly, for fulfilling our reporting obligations to our funding partners, we report all the relevant information about the selected projects and teams that are treated as sensitive data and are not disclosed to the public. 

CREDITS

CPH:DOX requires the logo of CPH:FORUM to be included in the credits of the film, once finalised, with the following sentence mentioned in the credit list: “[TITLE] has been presented at CPH:FORUM of CPH:DOX – Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival [YEAR]”

Your application and participation implies unconditional acceptance of these rules and regulations.
The organisers reserve the right to change the rules and regulations or processes at any time and without notification.