CPH:DOX 2024 Announces Diverse Competition Films Spanning Global Issues

The CPH:DOX (Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival) 2024, scheduled to take place from March 13th to 24th, has officially unveiled its competition lineup, presenting a selection of 66 films that span a wide range of contemporary issues and narratives. This year's festival is marked by the introduction of the Human Rights Award, a new category that commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, underlining the festival's commitment to showcasing documentaries that address critical global concerns.

The competition lineup is notable for its diversity and scope, featuring 47 world premieres and representing a broad spectrum of themes from geopolitics to existential and societal questions. The films are categorized into six award sections: the DOX:AWARD, which is the festival's main competition; the NEW:VISION Award, focusing on artistic and experimental documentaries; the NEXT:WAVE Award, aimed at emerging filmmakers; the NORDIC:DOX Award, which highlights documentaries from the Nordic countries; the F:ACT Award, dedicated to films at the intersection of investigative journalism, activism, and cinema; and the Audience Award, which gives festival attendees the chance to vote for their favorite film.

This year’s selection underscores CPH:DOX’s role in not only presenting high-quality documentary filmmaking but also in facilitating discussions, talks, and debates on pressing issues facing the world today. By bringing together films from across the globe, the festival offers a unique platform for filmmakers to share their perspectives and for audiences to engage with the diverse realities and stories that shape our contemporary world.

The festival's commitment to highlighting human rights issues, especially through the introduction of the Human Rights Award, reflects a broader trend in the documentary film industry towards addressing and engaging with complex global challenges. As the festival approaches, attendees can look forward to a program that not only entertains but also educates and inspires action on some of the most pressing issues of our time.

DOX:AWARD:

Balomania (Sissel Morell Dargis, Denmark/Spain, World Premiere)
The Black Garden (Alexis Pazoumian, France/Belgium, World Premiere)
E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea (Beatrice Minger, co-dir. Christoph Schaub, Switzerland, World Premiere)
The Flats (Alessandra Celesia, France/UK/Ireland/Belgium, World Premiere)
Immortals (Maja Tschumi, Switzerland/Iraq, World Premiere)
Life and Other Problems (Max Kestner, Denmark/Sweden/UK, World Premiere)
Motherboard (Victoria Mapplebeck, UK, World Premiere)
Night of Nights (Truman, USA, World Premiere)
Once Upon a Time in a Forest (Virpi Suutari, Finland, World Premiere)
Phantoms of the Sierra Madre (Håvard Bustnes, Norway/Finland/USA/Mexico, World Premiere)
Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other (Manon Ouimet & Jacob Perlmutter, UK, Denmark, United States, World Premiere)
Wilfred Buck (Lisa Jackson, Canada, World Premiere)

NEW:VISION AWARD

Preemptive Listening (Aura Satz, UK/Finland, European Premiere)
Ottu (Sandra Ignagni, Canada/France/Italy, World Premiere)
My Want of You Partakes of Me (Beny Wagner & Sasha Litvintseva, UK/Netherlands, World Premiere)
Familiar Phantoms (Larissa Sansour, Søren Lind, UK/Palestine, World Premiere)
And Still, It Remains (Arwa Aburawa, Turab Shah, Algeria/UK, World Premiere)
Look On the Bright Side (Yuyan Wang, France/Italy, International Premiere)
Dieseline Dreams (Max Göran, Sweden, World Premiere)
Trash The Musical (Loretta Fahrenholz, Germany, World Premiere)
Two Suns (SUPERFLEX, Denmark, World Premiere)
You, My, Omma, Mama (Laure Prouvost, Belgium/ France/Austria, World Premiere)
Lichens Are The Way (Ondřej Vavrečka, Czech Republic/Slovakia, World Premiere)
Single File (Simon Liu, Italy/USA/UK/Hong Kong, World Premiere)
Silent Night (Philipp Schaeffer & Jonathan Schaller, Germany/Palestine/Israel, World Premiere)
Efforts of Nature (Morgan Quaintance, UK, International Premiere)
No Exorcism Film (Komtouch Napattaloong, Thailand, World Premiere)

F:ACT AWARD

The Battle for Laikipia (Daphne Matziaraki & Peter Murimi, Kenya/USA, International Premiere)
Black Snow (Alina Simone, USA, World Premiere)
Can’t Feel Nothing (David Borenstein, Denmark/China/Russia/North Macedonia/USA, World Premiere)
Daughter of Genghis (Kristoffer Juel Poulsen, Christian Als, Denmark/Sweden/France, World Premiere)
Democracy Noir (Connie Field, USA, Germany/Denmark, World Premiere)
Lie To Me (Baar Tyrmi, Norway, International Premiere)
Limits of Europe (Apolena Rychlíková, Czech Republic/Slovakia/France, World Premiere)
Night of the Coyotes (Clara Trischler, Germany/Austria, World Premiere)
Stray Bodies (Elina Psykou, Greece/Switzerland/Italy/Bulgaria, International Premiere)
Union (Stephen Maing, Brett Story, USA, International Premiere)

NEXT:WAVE AWARD

Appearances (Nicolás Onischuk, Argentina, International Premiere)
La base (Vadim Dumesh, France, International Premiere)
Blueberry Dreams (Elena Mikaberidze, Georgia/France/Belgium/Quatar, World Premiere)
Death of a Saint (Patricia Bbaale Bandak, Denmark, World Premiere)
Eros (Rachel Daisy Ellis, Brazil, International Premiere)
G – 21 scenes from Gottsunda (Loran Batti, Denmark/Sweden, World Premiere)
Grand Me (Atiye Zare Arandi, Belgium/Iran, World Premiere)
Invisible People (Alisa Berger, France/Germany, World Premiere)
KIX (Bálint Révész & Dávid Mikulán, France/Croatia/Hungary, World Premiere)
My First Film (Zia Anger, USA, World Premiere)
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder (Inadelso Cossa, France/Netherlands/Mozambique/Norway/Portugal/Germany, International Premiere)
Realm of Satan (Scott Cummings, USA, International Premiere)
Sting Like a Bee (Leone, Italy, International Premiere)
To be an Extra (Henrike Meyer, Germany, World Premiere)

NORDIC:DOX AWARD

G – 21 scenes from Gottsunda (Loran Batti, Denmark/Sweden, World Premiere)
Hard to Break (Anna-Maija Heinonen & Krista Moisio, Finland, International Premiere)
The Labour of Pain and Joy (Karoliina Gröndahl, Finland, World Premiere)
Life and Other Problems (Max Kestner, Denmark/Sweden/UK, World Premiere)
Mina and the Radio Bandits (Kari Anne Moe, Norway, World Premiere)
Once Upon a Time in a Forest (Virpi Suutari, Finland, World Premiere)
Our Father Wears a Sun (Jasper Spanning, Rosalinde Mynster, Denmark, World Premiere)
Phantoms of the Sierra Madre (Håvard Bustnes, Norway/Finland/USA/Mexico, World Premiere)
A Place in the Sun (Mette Carla Albrechtsen, Denmark, World Premiere)
The Son and the Moon (Roja Pakari, Denmark/Iran, World Premiere)

HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD

Black Box Diaries (Shiori Ito, Japan/UK/USA, European Premiere)
I Shall Not Hate (Tal Barda, Canada/France, World Premiere)
Limits of Europe (Apolena Rychlíková, Czech Republic/Slovakia/France, World Premiere)
Marching in the Dark (Kinshuk Surjan, Belgium/Netherlands/India, World Premiere)
Mediha (Hasan Oswald, USA, International Premiere)
A Poem for Little People (Ivan Sautkin, Lithuania/UK/Ukraine, International Premiere)
Power (Yance Ford, USA, International Premiere)
The Recovery Channel (Ellen Ugelstad, Norway, International Premiere)
Silent Trees (Agnieszka Zwiefka, Denmark/Poland/Germany, World Premiere)
The Sky Above Zenica (Zlatko Pranjic & Nanna Frank Møller, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Denmark, World Premiere)