HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD
Competition for courageous films in defence and support of human rights.
With the HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD, CPH:DOX and the Institute for Human Rights focus on human rights in the art of film. The award honors filmmakers who depict the human rights challenges of our time. It has been more than 75 years since the UN Declaration of Human Rights was signed. Yet, discrimination and inequality are still daily realities for millions of people around the world. The candidates for this year’s HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD cover a wide range, but all share in common that they, in one way or another, bring human rights to life in a way that illuminates them for us.
American Doctor
When three American doctors - Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian - enter Gaza to save lives, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.
Poh Si Teng / United States, Palestine, Malaysia & Denmark / 2026 / International Premiere
Atlas of Disappearance
On the trail of the earthly remains of the victims of Franco's regime in a film that combines modern technology and paper archives in a historical investigation based on the director's own research through Forensic Architecture.
Manuel Correa / Spain & Norway / 2026 / World Premiere
Burning Voice
Alongside her studies, 35-year-old Tamara Amer is fighting a fierce battle against negative social control, a culture of silence, and the oppression of women in Iraq where she grew up.
Anna Bruun Nørager / Denmark & Iraq / 2026 / World Premiere
Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me
A woman is separated from her newborn twins during the war in Gaza. A filmmaker follows her for 16 long months as war and chaos rage and her children take their first steps far away.
Mohammed Sawwaf / Palestine, Qatar & Netherlands / 2025 / International Premiere
Killing Anna
A shocking video from Syria leads to an unusual detective story when a Syrian woman makes up a fake name to catch war criminals - on Facebook. A psychological thriller with a brave woman as a virtual Sherlock Holmes.
Sam Benstead / United Kingdom / 2026 / World Premiere
Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie
The world-renowned author, who survived a brutal assassination attempt, confronts his past in a deeply personal account of the struggle for freedom of expression by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney.
Alex Gibney / United States / 2026 / International Premiere
Let Our Mountains Live
The Norwegian government prioritizes green energy and economic gain over the Sami people's rights to land in a tense courtroom drama about power, land, trust, and cultural heritage.
Håvard Bustnes / Norway & Finland / 2026 / World Premiere
Out of School
In a remote village high up in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a brother and sister are forced out of education before their childhood is over.
Hind Bensari / Morocco & Denmark / 2026 / World Premiere
Scarlet Girls
A young filmmaker's graceful and courageous film from the Dominican Republic, where women speak openly about living in a country where abortion is banned - without exception.
Paula Cury Melo / Dominican Republic, Germany & Mexico / 2026 / World Premiere
The Phantom Pain of Rojava
In a secret house in northern Syria, wounded Kurdish guerrilla soldiers live with phantom pains in the shadow of a failed revolution. An Emmy-winning director's portrayal of five years in a secret community.
Maryam Embrahimi / Sweden & Norway / 2026 / World Premiere









