The full programme for CPH:INDUSTRY has been unveiled, with the CPH:DOX industry strand set to run from 16 to 19 March in Copenhagen. Headlined by the CPH:DOX SUMMIT and CPH:CONFERENCE, this year’s edition tackles what organisers describe as the “infrastructure of truth” under mounting political pressure, platform dominance and AI disruption. Anchored by the Summit’s focus on “Safe Havens” – independent spaces where stories can circulate without algorithmic suppression or external interference – the programme extends into the Conference with sessions exploring ethics, sonic cinema and new alliances across the non-fiction ecosystem.

Mara Gourd-Mercado, head of Industry & Training at CPH:DOX, comments: “We see the CPH:CONFERENCE and CPH:DOX SUMMIT as a moment to come together and reflect on the profound changes and challenges which we need to tackle head on as an industry. This year’s programme serves as a hub for bold conversations on challenging conglomerates’ power over content, securing 'safe havens' for independent voices, and looking at AI as a tool and redefining our relationship with it. Through hands-on discussions and insights from industry leaders, the programme promises to spark fresh ideas and equip filmmakers with tactical tools to bypass algorithms and resist censorship, among other advantages.”

Taking place on 16 March, the Summit is presented in collaboration with ARTE and positions itself as a response to Europe’s democratic recession and increasing dependence on US-based digital platforms. Curated by producer Mark Edwards, impact strategist Danielle Turkov Wilson and researcher Sameer Padania, and hosted by Beadie Finzi, it aims to move beyond diagnosis towards practical frameworks for media sovereignty. Opening with a keynote by Bruno Patino, president of ARTE France, the programme addresses what is described as a “melting” public-interest media infrastructure. Sessions such as “The Act of Building” examine how concentrated platform power, opaque algorithms and information warfare are reshaping the information ecosystem, prompting calls for new digital, financial and physical infrastructures which documentary-makers can actively defend and rebuild.

A forward-looking discussion, “To Be Seen or Not to Be Seen,” explores how independent creatives and distributors might ensure that vital stories continue to reach citizens by 2030 despite misinformation, algorithmic filtering and reduced public funding. The Summit concludes with “Tales from the Frontlines,” featuring Irma Dimitradze and Bea Wangondu, among other names, who will share tactical approaches to resisting censorship and restoring trust through grassroots innovation, cross-border partnerships and emerging technologies, such as AI-assisted fact-checking.

Running from 17 to 19 March, CPH:CONFERENCE unfolds over three days composed of conversations, workshops and performative lectures which bridge craft, ethics and industry strategy. The programme juggles high-profile creative voices with structural reflection: the various “A Morning With” sessions feature filmmakers including Sara Dosa and John Wilson, known for How To with John Wilson, who will offer insight into their creative processes and evolving practices. Elsewhere, panels such as “What Is Truth Anyway” with Joe Bini interrogate the instability of images and narratives in a fragmented media landscape.

Technology remains a central thread throughout the Conference. “Rekindling the Machine – Documentary in the Age of AI” and the participatory workshop “From Prompt to Protocol: The Making of DoxAI” invite filmmakers to move from passive users of tools to active shapers of value-driven systems. Other sessions expand the formal boundaries of non-fiction through multi-sensory and immersive storytelling, while debates on the sustainability of independent documentary financing assess what many describe as the end of a recent “golden age” of creative docs. Questions of representation and narrative positionality will be addressed by contributors including Adam Khalil, Tracy Rector and Nathan Grossman, foregrounding sovereignty and accountability in image-making. The programme will close on a performative note with Keith Wilson’s live documentary intervention, challenging conventional markers of success within the awards-driven ecosystem.

Alongside the Summit and Conference, CPH:INDUSTRY will also host CPH:FORUM (17-19 March), CPH:ROUGHCUT (16 March), CHANGE (16 March), CPH:LAB, INTRO:DOX, and the online CPH:MARKET platform, running from 11 March to 2 April. The full CPH:DOX SUMMIT programme can be found here and the CPH:CONFERENCE line-up here, as more speakers continue to be announced.