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This year’s edition of CPH:DOX’s financing and co-production event CPH:Forum, which runs March 17-19, will showcase projects by 101 directors and producers representing 23 countries, who will take the stage to present 30 new documentary projects spanning early to late development and production.
Among the project are those by directors such as Lea Glob (“Apolonia, Apolonia”), David Borenstein (“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”), Göran Hugo Olsson (“Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989”), Verena Paravel (“De Humani Corporis Fabrica”), Beniamino Barrese (“The Disappearance of My Mother”), Robert Greene (“Kate Plays Christine”), Hansen Lin and Siyi Chen (“Always”), Diana El Jeiroudi (“Republic of Silence”), Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (“The Viewing Booth”), Kathryn Ferguson (“Nothing Compares”) along with producers such as Alex Pritz and Will N. Miller (“The Territory”), and Aman Mann and Shaunak Sen (“All That Breathes”).
The projects will be presented to film financiers and representatives of streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and HBO Europe; broadcasters ARTE, ZDF, VPRO, BBC, France Télévisions, National Geographic, POV, NHK, Al Jazeera and RAI; film studios such as Sky Studios, Concordia Studio, Wavelength Productions and Sandbox Films; distributors IMAX, ROCO Films, Grasshopper Film; funds and foundations such as Field of Vision, Impact Partners, Ford Foundation, InMaat Foundation, Sundance Institute, Doc Society, Chicken and Egg Pictures, Catapult and The Whickers.
Mara Gourd-Mercado, head of industry and training, said, “The 2026 CPH:Forum selection tells the story of the times we live in through the lenses of filmmakers who challenge the status quo, take risks and engage in dialogue with the world. We envision this edition as not just a showcase, but as a vital space where the transformative power of documentary in defending democracy and fostering understanding in these challenging times is revealed once again. We are honored that this group of filmmakers have entrusted us with their projects.”
The selected projects will be presented to financiers and representatives from the documentary film industry and will be in the running for a number of awards at CPH:Forum, running from March 17-19 in Copenhagen, with CPH:ROUGHCUT and CHANGE presentations taking place on March 16.
CPH:ROUGHCUT showcasing projects close to completion
As part of CPH:Forum, the CPH:ROUGHCUT selection will showcase five upcoming films at rough cut stage aiming to premiere in 2026 and looking for distribution, sales, buyers, festival premieres and other forms of exhibition. The teams will present selected scenes from their soon-to-be-finished films on March 16.
Eastern European perspectives from the CHANGE projects
For the fifth year running, CPH:DOX, IMS (International Media Support) and EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) are bringing together the development co-production training program CHANGE, empowering documentary projects and filmmakers from the Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Following two residential workshops in Moldova, the six-month long training program will culminate in a final workshop in Copenhagen during CPH:DOX, in partnership with the National Film School of Denmark, and the presentation of the eight participating projects at the CHANGE pitch session on March 16.
Eight awards to be handed out during CPH:Forum 2026
Together with new as well as longstanding partners, CPH:Forum will present a slate of awards totalling more than €100,000. As an addition, CPH:Forum has partnered with leading European public broadcaster ARTE to award two projects in the form of two consultations with Rough Cut Services totalling a value of €2,500 each. Another new award by the Jacob Burns Film Center will grant one project a stipend and residency including access to editing and post-producing facilities totalling a value of approximately €8,500.
The Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize will highlight an outstanding science documentary project which will receive a $25,000 cash award along with support from Sandbox Films to bring their vision to life. The Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-Production Award with a €15,000 prize will be awarded to a project highlighting urgent matters of our times from, or about, the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Eurimages New Lab Awards will celebrate innovative projects by non-conventional filmmakers and visual artists through two awards: The Innovation Award of €20,000 for an experimental project in development and the Outreach Award of €30,000 to promote audience outreach for an experimental project in late production or post-production.
In addition, the Rise and Shine Award of €3,000 will be awarded to the best pitch project with international potential and no sales agent attached as well as the Unifrance/Titrafilm Doc Award totalling €5,500 in benefits for the best French production or co-production presented.
The awards will be handed out at the CPH:INDUSTRY Happy Hour & Award show taking place on March 19 at the Social Cinema at Kunsthal Charlottenborg.
The selected CPH:Forum projects:
“Artifacts of War” (Spain, Chile)
Directed by Jorge Caballero; produced by Anna Giralt Gris, Diego Pino Anguita
“Blackest Ever Black” (Ireland, U.K.)
Directed by Roisin Agnew; produced by Alison Millar, Jack O’Brien, Roisin Agnew
“Bromansky” (Finland, France, Denmark, Norway)
Directed by Arthur Franck; produced by Sandra Enkvist, Anders Lindström, Rémi Grelletty, Sara Skrodzka, Thorvald Nilsen, Esther Nissen
“Children of the Moon Land” (Slovakia, Czech Rep., France)
Directed by Roman Ďuriš; produced by Richard Šimeček, Michal Sikora, Albin Bourgeois
“Cosmofonia” (France)
Directed by Verena Paravel; produced by Florence Cohen
“Dark Horse” (Sweden, Kenya, U.S.)
Directed by Lauren DeFilippo, Sam Soko; produced by Amanda Pollak
“Director’s Cut” [WT] (Romania, Denmark)
Directed by Radu Ciorniciuc; produced by Tereza Šimíková
“Everything Is Red and Grey” (Palestine, Canada)
Directed by Shourideh C. Molavi, Shrouq Alaila; produced by Shourideh C. Molavi, Henry Plavidal, Laura Poitras
“Face Value” (U.S.)
Directed by Faye Tsakas; produced by Riel Roch Decter
“God of the In-Between” (India, U.S.)
Directed by Archana Phadke; produced by Aman Mann, Shaunak Sen, Jim Wilson
“Green Gold” (France, U.S.)
Directed by Ivonne Serna, Sélim Benzeghia; produced by Geoffrey Livolsi, Alex Pritz, Will N. Miller, Sélim Benzeghia
“Joud” (Denmark, Netherlands)
Directed by Diana El Jeiroudi; produced by Diana El Jeiroudi, Orwa Nyrabia
“Last Standing Women” (Denmark)
Directed by Talal Derki; produced by Charlotte Reekers, Talal Derki
“Last Weekend in October” (U.S., Nigeria)
Directed by Nosarieme Garrick; produced by Chioma Onyenwe
“Letter to Alvin” (Sweden)
Directed by Hilton Als, Göran Hugo Olsson; produced by Tobias Janson, Melissa Lindgren
“Letters of Hope” (Denmark, Germany, U.S.)
Directed by Lea Glob; produced by Sigrid Dyekjær, Eric Holland, Konstanze Speidel, Mstyslav Chernov
“Living in Our Heads (Confidential)” (Denmark)
Directed by David Borenstein; produced by Helle Faber
“Matrescence” (U.K.)
Directed by Kathryn Ferguson; produced by Eleanor Emptage, Rosie Crerar
“My Father the Iceman” (Poland, Denmark)
Directed by Łukasz Kowalski; produced by Anna Mazerant, Łukasz Kowalski, Signe Byrge Sørensen
“Queens Ballroom” (U.S., France, Belgium)
Directed by Hansen Lin, Siyi Chen; produced by Hansen Lin, Siyi Chen, Clara Vuillermoz, Laurence Buelens
Skeptics (U.S.)
Directed by Ra’anan Alexandrowicz; produced by James Doolittle, Thomas Lennon
“State of Immortality” (Denmark, U.S.)
Directed by Piotr Winiewicz; produced by Henrik Underbjerg
“Sweet Mystery of Life” (U.S.)
Directed by Robert Greene; produced by Bennett Elliott, Susan Bedusa, Douglas Tirola
“The Calling” (Denmark)
Directed by Beniamino Barrese; produced by Harry Vaughn, Benimiano Barrese
“The Day After” (France, Israel)
Directed by Yuval Orr, Aziz Abu Sarah; produced by Margaux Missika, Liel Maghen
“The Elephant in the Room” (U.S.)
Directed by Marley McDonald; produced by John Cardellino
“The Niki De Saint Phalle Documentary Project” (France)
Directed by Matt Wolf, Svetlana Zill; produced by Emma Lepers
“The Silent Network” (Denmark, Norway)
Directed by Pernille Rose Grønkjær, Noa Agnete Metz; produced by Vibeke Vogel, Nina Leidersdorff, Malthe Koch
“Untitled UNRWA Archive Documentary” (Canada)
Directed by Benedict Moran, Ramzy Haddad; produced by Benedict Moran, Ramzy Haddad
“We Are Volcanoes” (Hong Kong, Norway)
Directed by Sharon Yeung, Natalie Chao; produced by Sharon Yeung, Jillian Schlesinger
The selected CPH:ROUGHCUT projects:
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Up on Me” (Macao, France, Denmark, Norway, Chile)
Directed by Asmae El Moudir; produced by Emma Lepers, Monica Hellström, Asmae El Moudir
“Rescue” (Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Germany)
Directed by Sine Plambech; produced by Sofie Husum Johannesen, Andreas Dalsgaard, Tereza Šimíková
“The Dawn of the Post Plantation” (Netherlands, Belgium, U.K., Congo, U.S., Italy, Indonesia)
Directed by Ced’art Tamasala, Renzo Martens; produced by Lea Fels, Isidoor Roebers
“The Siege of Paradise” (Ireland, Switzerland)
Directed by Gar O’Rourke; produced by Andrew Freedman, Ken Wardrop, Jessie Hayden, Luzius Fischer, Philipp Ritler
“War on Women” (Spain, Romania, Germany)
Directed by Maris Salumets; produced by Elina Litvinova, Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, Gregor Streiber, Maris Salumets
The selected CHANGE projects:
“10 Things” [WT] (Georgia, France)
Directed by Niniko Lekishvili; produced by Ana Kvichidze, Irina Gelashvili, Estelle Robin You
“3 Daughters” (Moldova)
Directed by Ana Gherciu; produced by Ana Gherciu
“Life on Mars” (Armenia)
Directed by Mery Aghakhayan; produced by Karina Simonyan
“My Home” (Azerbaijan)
Directed by Ulviyya Ahmadova; produced by Nijat Dadashov
“My School Is Seized” (Ukraine)
Directed by Halyna Lavrinets; produced by Oleksandr Ivanov
“Sounds of Revolution” (Georgia, France)
Directed by Nikoloz Bezhanishvili; produced by Nikoloz Bezhanishvili, Victor Ede
“Total Mess” (Sweden, Ukraine)
Directed by Oleksandra Horiienko; produced by Alex Shiriaieff, Kateryna Yahodka
“UXXR: Is There Sex After the USSR?” (Armenia)
Directed by Lilit Movsisyan; produced by Sona Margaryan
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