14/02/2023 - A total of 33 projects in development, eight works in progress and eight projects from Eastern Europe have been selected for CPH:DOX’s industry event

Running from 21-24 March, CPH:FORUM, CPH:DOX’s flagship financing and co-production event, will welcome hundreds of guests to Copenhagen. This year’s CPH:FORUM line-up presents a curated slate of nuanced films, reflecting on the past and the future of the non-fiction genre, and the world at large. Marking the 20th anniversary of CPH:DOX, the selection includes 33 international projects in development, eight projects that will be presented in the CPH:WIP section and eight projects from Eastern Europe that will be presented in the CHANGE section.

Among the selected projects for this edition are the new efforts by filmmakers such as Ljubomir Stefanov (Honeyland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile]), Jessica Kingdon (Ascension), Finlay Pretsell (Time Trial [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Ousmane Samassekou (The Last Shelter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Mila Turajlić (The Other Side of Everything [+see also:
film review
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interview: Mila Turajlić
film profile]), Tonislav Hristov (The Good Postman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Iryna Tsilyk (The Earth Is Blue as an Orange [+see also:
film review
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interview: Iryna Tsilyk
film profile]) and Brett Story (The Hottest August), among others. The 33 projects will be presented in four categories: ART (film projects by visual artists to be screened both within the institution of cinema and within that of visual art), CINEMA (high-end, theatrical, feature-length documentaries with international distribution potential), F:ACT (projects bridging the fields of filmmaking, investigative journalism and activism) and SCIENCE (creative documentary film and new-media projects on science and technology).

The selected projects will be presented to more than 200 established film financiers, representatives of streaming platforms, broadcasters, film studios, and philanthropic foundations. It should be underlined that for the tenth year running, CPH:FORUM is presenting the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000, to the event’s best-pitched project intended for co-production.

CPH:DOX is also offering a Special Eurimages Co-Production Development Award worth €20,000 to a Ukrainian project showcased in CPH:FORUM. Eurimages has decided to grant the award to express support and solidarity with the Ukrainian film industry. Furthermore, 12% of the project line-up in CPH:FORUM, CPH:WIP and CHANGE consists of Ukrainian productions and co-productions, which are eligible for both Eurimages awards.

This year, CPH:WIP is scaling up and includes eight Nordic and international work-in-progress projects, which will be presented on 20 March. They include the new works by established filmmakers such as Yrsa Roca Fannberg (The Last Autumn [+see also:
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film profile]), Camilla Magid (Land of the Free [+see also:
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film profile]), Håvard Bustnes (Golden Dawn Girls [+see also:
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film profile]) and others.

In 2021, CPH:DOX, in partnership with IMS (International Media Support) and EAVE, launched the CHANGE development and co-production training programme, featuring projects from the European Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries – Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The second edition of the six-month-long training scheme will hold its last residential workshop in Copenhagen, organised in partnership with the National Film School of Denmark. The programme will culminate in a presentation of the eight participating projects at the CHANGE pitching session on 20 March.

Tereza Simikova, head of Industry and Training, stated: “In a time of increasing polarisation and radicalisation of society, it’s inspiring to see filmmakers having complicated, nuanced conversations around such timely issues as the legacy of colonialism, inequality and free speech, but also cancel culture and the role of activism, arts and science in today's society. Remarkably, they also find a great deal of hope, humour and beauty while doing so.”

Here is the full list of 2023 CPH:FORUM, CPH:WIP and CHANGE projects:

CPH:FORUM

#WhileBlack - Sidney Fussell, Samantha Knowles (USA/Canada)
Producers: Ann Shin, Geeta Gandbhir (Fathom Film Group)

Almost Human - Ola Waagen (Norway/Denmark)
Producers: Bjarte Mørner Tveit (Von Mørner), Peter Engel (Wingman Media)

Confidential - “Confidential” (USA/Denmark)
Producers: Sigrid Dyekjaer, Ross Levine

Conscious - Suki Chan (UK)
Producer: Aimara Reques (Aconite Productions)

Cuba&Alaska - Yegor Troyanovsky (Ukraine/France)
Producers: Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Christian Popp (TAG film)

The Dawn of the Post Plantation - Renzo Martens (Netherlands/Germany)
Producer: Lea Fels (SCENERY)

Douglas Gordon: Self Divided - Finlay Pretsell (UK/France)
Producers: Sonja Henrici (Parcel of Rogues), Grande Ourse Films

Dreams of a Dark Sky - Anmol Tikoo (India)
Producer: Raghu Karnad (Chapstick Films)

Dreamscape - Ousmane Samassekou (France/Mali)
Producers: Estelle Robin You (Grande Ourse), Andrey S Diarra (DS Productions)

The Eukrainian - Viktor Nordenskiöld (Sweden/France/Ukraine)
Producers: Viktor Nordenskiöld (FreetownFilms), Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Christian Popp (TAG film)

Evo: The Burnt Palace - Martin Sivak, Noah Friedman-Rudovsky (USA/Argentina)
Producers: Justine Nagan, Irene Cajias (Actual Films)

Far from Maine - Roy Cohen (Israel/France)
Producers: Roy Cohen (Roy Cohen Films), Serge Gordey (Temps Noir)

Generation - David Borenstein, “Confidential” (Denmark/UK)
Producer: Helle Faber

Give It a Shot - Vaishali Sinha (India/USA)
Producers: Hemang Chheda, Tracie Holder, Jessica Harrop, Greg Boustead (Coast to Coast Films LLC, Sandbox Films)

House of Earth - Ljubomir Stefanov (North Macedonia/USA)
Producers: Maya E Rudolph, Sarah D'hanens (Apolo Media)

Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Oksana Karpovych (Canada/France/Ukraine)
Producers: Giacomo Nudi (Les Films Cosmos), Hutong Productions

The Infinite Rehearsal - Louis Henderson (UK/Guyana)
Producers: Luke Moody, Romola Lucas (Maribunta Pictures)

The Lions at the River Tigris - Ahmed Zaradasht (Norway)
Producer: Thorvald Nilsen (Screen Story)

The Menopause Mystery - Louise Unmack Kjeldsen (Denmark)
Producer: Malene Flindt Pedersen (Hansen & Pedersen)

Once upon a Time in a Forest - Virpi Suutari (Finland)
Producer: Virpi Suutari (Euphoria Film Oy)

Only on Earth - Robin Petré (Denmark/Spain)
Producers: Signe Skov Thomsen, Malene Flindt Pedersen (Hansen & Pedersen)

Opening Night - Aron Skoog, John Skoog (Sweden)
Producers: Aron Skoog, John Skoog (Filmögon, Plattform Produktion)

Our Love - Hannah Reinikainen, Lia Hietala (Sweden/Finland/Germany)
Producers: Melissa Lindgren (Story AB), Napafilm

Part of Society - Rati Tsiteladze (Georgia)
Producer: Olga Slusareva (ArtWay Film)

The Production of the World - Brett Story (Canada/USA)
Producer: Jeff Reichert (Oh Ratface Films)

Red Zone - Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine)
Producer: Darya Bassel

Second World, Second Sex - Mila Turajlić (Serbia)
Producer: Carine Chichkowsky

Truth.com - Tonislav Hristov (Finland/Bulgaria)
Producers: Kaarle Aho (Making Movies Oy), Soul Food

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Jacob Perlmutter (UK/Denmark)
Producers: Manon Ouimet (Manon et Jacob), Signe Byrge Sørensen (Final Cut For Real)

Untitled Animal Project - Jessica Kingdon (USA)
Producers: Nathan Truesdell, Jamie Gonçalves (Shrimp Mantis Shrimp)

Untitled Dwarfism Project - Julie Forrest Wyman (USA)
Producers: Lindsey Dryden, Jonna McKone (In Proportion)

Voice/over - Balint Revesz (Hungary)
Producer: Viki Reka Kiss (Roughhouse Project)

We Have Always Lived in the End Times - Ben Russell (Germany)
Producer: Guillaume Cailleau (CasK Films)

CPH:WIP

Adil - Adil Khan, Julian Nazario Vargas (Norway/Netherlands)
Producers: Eirik Smidesang Slåen (Imaginær Film), Elisabeth Opdal (Submarine)

The Animated Mind of Oliver Sacks - Dempsey Rice (USA/UK)
Producers: Lori Cheatle (Hard Working Movies), Met Film Production

As the Tide Comes In [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Juan Palacios, Sofie Husum Johannesen (Denmark)
Producer: Kasper Lykke Schultz (Elk Film)

Confidential - “Confidential” (USA)

Fighting Demons with Dragons - Camilla Magid (Denmark)
Producer: Heidi Elise Christensen (Final Cut for Real)

The Ground Beneath Our Feet - Yrsa Roca Fannberg (Iceland/Poland)
Producers: Hanna Björk Valsdóttir (Akkeri Films), Staron Film

Phantoms of Sierra Madre [+see also:
interview: Håvard Bustnes
film profile] - Håvard Bustnes (Norway/Finland)
Producers: Christian Aune Falch, Håvard Bustnes (UpNorth Film)

Our Land, Our Freedom - Zippy Kimundu, Meena Nanji (Kenya/USA/Portugal/Germany)
Producers: Zippy Kimundu, Meena Nanji, Eliane Ferreira (Twende Pictures, Muiraquitã Filmes)

CHANGE

A Bit of a Stranger [+see also:
film review
interview: Svitlana Lishchynska
film profile] - Svitlana Lishchynska (Ukraine)
Producer: Anna Kapustina (Albatros Communicos)

Boxes from Georgia - Gvantsa Meparishvili (Georgia)
Producer: Tiko Nadirashvili (Millimeter Film, Zuchi Films)

Flow - Belarusian Filmmakers (Poland/Belarus)
Producers: Film Studio Everest, DocWave

Here, Between This Sea and Those Mountains - Keti Machavariani (Georgia)
Producer: Keti Machavariani (Radium Films)

How Long Is the Echo? - Merri Mkrtchyan (Armenia)
Producer: Yelizaveta Petrosyan (Tesil Production)

Kartli - Julien Pebrel, Tamar Kalandadze (Georgia/France)
Producers: Ketevan Kipiani (Sakdoc Film), Jean-Baptiste Bonnet (Habilis Productions)

Memo ’94 - Kornii Hrytsiuk (Ukraine)
Producer: Anna Palenchuk (435 FILMS)

Strange Sea - Lala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan)
Producer: Aysel Akhundova (Flying Docs)