CPH:DOX, also known as Copenhagen International Airport. The documentary film festival has announced its competition lineup, featuring 53 world premieres, 17 international premieres and four European premieres. The 23rd annual festival will be held from March 11th to 22nd.
Niklas Engström, artistic director of CPH:DOX, said: “We live in a time when frameworks once thought to be stable—political, moral, and even cognitive—are shifting beneath our feet.Institutions are being tested, conflicts are intensifying, and new technologies are changing our perceptions. In moments like these, documentary film becomes more than observation, a space that commands sustained attention.The films in this year’s competition line up resist simplification and speed. About complexity, ambiguity, and the dignity of lived experience. ”
The main competition category is DOX:AWARD, with a prize of 10,000 euros. It consists of 12 feature films, all of which are world premieres. The remaining five contests (each with a prize of €5,000) have a clear cinematic focus. The F:ACT competition bridges the gap between filmmaking and investigative reporting. The HUMAN:RIGHTS competition focuses on stories of human rights advocacy. NEW:VISION celebrates artist cinema and boundary-pushing cinematic experiments. NEXT:WAVE spotlights up-and-coming filmmakers and new cinematic trends. NORDIC:DOX presents the best regional documentaries from Northern Europe.
The 2026 edition marks a new milestone with the introduction of the FIPRESCI Award, awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics, for which 12 films are nominated for the DOX:AWARD competition. CPH:DOX, in collaboration with seven European festivals within the Doc Alliance network, will also present a selection of films nominated for the 2026 Doc Alliance Awards.
Mads K. Mikkelsen, Head of Programs at CPH:DOX, said: “Documentary is an art form and we are very excited to announce a competition line-up of very contemporary films that critically and creatively reflect the difficult times we live in. With great faith in our audiences, we are exploring the possibilities of 21st century cinema in a spirit of humanism, solidarity, and poetry. We are deeply grateful to all the filmmakers and look forward to celebrating with them as we watch their films light up our screens.”
CPH:DOX attracts over 150,000 attendees and over 2,000 industry professionals each year.
The candidates (in alphabetical order) are:
Dox:Award
song without home
(Director: Lati Tsiteladze, Producer: Lati Tsiteladze, Olga Sursareva, Georgia, USA, World Premiere)
Amazonia
(Director: Nathan Grossman, Producer: Cecilia Nessen, Sweden, Denmark, France, world premiere)
arctic link
(Director: Ian Parnell, Producer: Franziska Sonder, Switzerland, World Premiere)
Christiania
(Director: Karl Friis Forchhammer, Producer: Rikke Tambo, Denmark, world premiere)
Daughters of the Forest Mycelial Chronicles
(Director: Otilia Portillo, Producer: Paula Arroyo, Elena Fortes, Mexico, USA, World Premiere)
little sinner
(Director: Daro Hansen, Thomas Papapetros, Producer: Thor Hampus Bank, Denmark, World Premiere)
Marinka
(Director: Peter-Jean de Pew, Producer: Bert van Langendonck, Belgium, world premiere)
gasoline heads
(Director: Emil Langbert, Producers: Julie Walenciak, Claes Hedlund, Denmark, World Premiere)
something familiar
(Director: Rachel Tapaljian, Producers: Monica Lazurean Gorgan, Elena Martin, Romania, UK, World Premiere)
code
(Director: Nolwen Hervé, Producer: Estelle Robin Yu, France, world premiere)
sandbox
(Director: Kenya-Jade Pinto, Producer: Shasha Nakai, Kenya-Jade Pinto, Canada, World Premiere)
Whisper of May
(Director: Dongnan Chen, Producer: Jia Zhao, China, Netherlands, Republic of Korea (Korea), Sweden, World Premiere)
F:Act Award
Every river carries its story to the sea
(Director: Jeannie Finlay, Producer: Charlie Phillips, Jeannie Finlay, UK, World Premiere)
Atlas of Vanishing
(Director: Manuel Correa, Producers: Anna Giralto Gris, Jorge Caballero Ramos, Emile Olsen, Spain, World Premiere)
Cambodian beer dream
(Director: Laurits Nansen, Producers: Marlene Flint Pedersen, Signe Skov-Thomsen, Ove Richoj Jensen, Valerie Montmartin, Denmark, Sweden, France, world premiere)
army of hell
(Director: Richard Lowery, Producers: Atanas Georgiev, Richard Butler, Ukraine, Syria, Central African Republic, Lithuania, USA, World Premiere)
completely agree
(Director: Panu Sronen, Producer: Susanna Lasarov, Finland, International Premiere)
intelligence rising
(Director: Elena Andreycheva, Producer: Elena Andreycheva, Sean Richard, Mandy Chan, UK, World Premiere)
just look up
(Directors: Emma Wall, Betsy Hershey, Producers: Signe Bilge Sorensen, Natja Rozner, USA, Denmark, World Premiere)
Kikuyuland
(Directors: Andrew H. Brown, Bee Wangondu, Producers: Andrew H. Brown, Moses Buyo, Joseph Njenga, Bee Wangondu, Mike Morrisroe, USA, Kenya, International Premiere)
materia prima
(Director: Jens Schanze, Producers: Jens Schanze, Thomas Thiersch, Germany, World Premiere)
technology
(Director: Suzanne Kovacs, Producer: Good Company Pictures, Denmark, World Premiere)
great experiment
(Directors: Steven Mayne, Eric Daniel Metzger, Producers: Steven Mayne, Eric Daniel Metzger, Fariha Zaman, USA, Mexico, International Premiere)
Human: Rights Award
american doctor
(Director: Po See Teng, Producers: Kerstin Burfod, Po See Teng, Reem Haddad, Simon Kilmurry, Hamza Ali, Mohamed Sawawa, USA, Palestine, Malaysia, Denmark, International Premiere)
Atlas of Vanishing
(Director: Manuel Correa, Producers: Anna Giralto Gris, Jorge Caballero Ramos, Emile Olsen, Spain, World Premiere)
burning voice
(Director: Anna Bruun Norager, Producers: Maria Stevenbach-Westergren, Zahra Ghandour, Denmark, Iraq, World Premiere)
Twins of Gaza, please come back to me
(Director: Mohammed Sawaf, Producer: Sylvia Sahone, Palestine, Qatar, Netherlands, international premiere)
kill anna
(Director: Sam Benstead, Producer: Matt Cole, Charlie Wye Feldman, UK, World Premiere)
Knife: The attempted murder of Salman Rushdie
(Director: Alex Gibney, Producers: Erin Edaiken, Sruthi Pinnamaneni, Alex Gibney, USA, International Premiere)
Let’s make use of our mountains
(Director: Havard Bastnes, Producer: Johannes Van, Havard Bastnes, Norway, Finland, World Premiere)
Refusal from school
(Director: Hind Bensali, Producer: Vibeke Vogel, Alaa Eddin Algem, Morocco, Denmark, world premiere)
scarlet girls
(Director: Paula Curie Melo, Paula Curie, Producer: Samuel DiDonato, Paula Curie, Dominican Republic, Germany, Mexico, World Premiere)
The Phantom Pain of Rojava
(Director: Mariam Embrahimi, Producers: Stina Gardel, Christine Anne Scarlett, Sweden, Norway, World Premiere)
Scandinavia: Dox
Sweetness that comes from nowhere
(Director: Esther Bergsmarck, Producer: Anna Maria Kantarius, Sweden, Norway, world premiere)
almost forever
(Directors: Lia Hietala, Hanna Reinikainen, Producer: Melissa Lindgren, Sweden, Finland, World Premiere)
among the birds
(Director: Mika Kaurismäki, Ragnar Axelsson, Ingvar Solzarson, Producer: Ingvar H. Solzarson, Iceland, World Premiere)
Birita
(Director: Bui Dam, Producers: John Hammer, Durita Samberg, Mark Steele, Faroe Islands, World Premiere)
fire, water, earth, air
(Directors: Fi Ambo, Fi Ambo, Eva Sederstam, Janne Lindgren, Rogvi Rasmussen,
Producers: Rikke Tambo Andersen, Stina Gardel, John Hammer, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Faroe Islands, World Premiere)
homesick
(Director: Taecyeon Tanja In Wal Sørensen, Producer: Rikke Tambo Andersen, Sona Jo, Virupi Soutari, Denmark, Republic of Korea (Korea), Finland, World Premiere)
for self-defense
(Director: Lynn Helen Loken, Producer: Lynn Helen Loken, Norway, World Premiere)
king hamlet
(Director: Elvira Lind, Producers: Sarah Stockman, Sofia Sondervan, American, Danish, European premiere)
Let’s make use of our mountains
(Director: Havard Bastnes, Producer: Johannes Van, Havard Bastnes, Norway, Finland, World Premiere)
arctic circle of desire
(Director: Mark Heikkinen, Producer: Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen, Dirk Manthey, Fredrik Lange, Finland, Germany, Sweden, international premiere)
father’s life
(Director: Magnus Skatvold, Producers: Hilde Høbjorg, Christian Karlsen, Norway, International Premiere)
Kabul’s Secret Book Club
(Director: Shakiba Adil, Elina Hirvonen, Producer: Marko Tari, Johanna Laita, Finland, Norway, World Premiere)
Next: Wave
Become an ema
(Director: Patricia Dorati, Producers: Maria Helga Stulp, Sidsel Lonwig Thielstedt, Denmark, Spain, Slovakia, world premiere)
Another summer dream
(Director: Irene Bartolome, Producers: Pere Marzo, Elie Kamal, Irene Bartolome, Spain, Lebanon, World Premiere)
I heard that we won’t meet again.
(Director: Ka Ki Wong, Producer: Ping-chia Chen, Ka Leung Ng, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkiye, UK, World Premiere)
If good luck comes
(Director: Camille Birsseau, Producer: Sophie Husum Johannessen, Denmark, World Premiere)
last movie
(Director: Stanley Stinter, Producer: Stanley Stinter, UK, World Premiere)
like other mortals
(Director: María Molina Peiro, Producers: Manon Bobenkerk, Carlota Coloma, Adria La Huerta, Netherlands, Spain, International Premiere)
British problems
(Director: Peter Treherne, Producer: Peter Treherne, Jane Urquhart, Anna Thompson, UK, European premiere)
social landscape
(Director: Jonas Meyer, Producer: Niels Vigée, Switzerland, International Premiere)
calf doll
(Director: Uncle Huda, Producer: Uncle Huda, Radha Rani, India, World Premiere)
road to other places
(Director: Eirini Vouloumis, Producer: Leonidas Riambais, Greece, International Premiere)
mother’s time
(Director: Irene Kaltenborn, Producer: Irene Kaltenborn, Marco Piegel, Norway, World Premiere)
this is not a french movie
(Director: Tom Ajibi, Producers: Walid Bekhti, Clotilde Benaud, Belgium, France, world premiere)
where silence can be heard
(Director: Gabriela Pena, Producer: Picho García, Gabriela Pena, Gabriela Sandoval, Eftimir Zimvlagaki, Chile, Spain, World Premiere)
New: Vision
aerial photography
(Director: Ida Berisha, Producers: Ryan Sherman, Federica Vegnani, Denmark, Italy, World Premiere)
the boy cried wolf
(Director: Max Golan, Producer: Max My Golan, Germany, Sweden, world premiere)
compact disc
(Director: Rico Wong, Producer: Hau Chun Chan, Jesse Yang, Hong Kong, UK, World Premiere)
city of lights
(Director: Josephine Privat, Producer: Odile Mendes Bonito, France, International Premiere)
fallen midday
(Director: Kiu Anh Huong Nguyen, Producer: Le Fresnoy – National Studio of Contemporary Art, France, Vietnam, World Premiere)
not here and here
(Director: Andrea Zimmerman, Producer: Andrea Luca Zimmerman, Palestine, UK, International Premiere)
Jirapo
(Director: María Rojas Arias, Producer: Andres Jurado, Colombia, Portugal, European premiere)
local sensation
(Director: Thulapop Senjaroen, Producer: Kaldopol Nitipisanon, Thailand, European premiere)
Nurses come and go, but no one comes to me.
(Directors: Ed Atkins, Stephen Zultanski, Producer: Pinky Gandale, UK, International Premiere)
pacifico
(Director: Daniel Duque, Producer: Daniel Duque, France, Colombia, World Premiere)
Penkelmes
(Director: Onyeka Igwe, Producer: Odunayo Odeyotin, Nigeria, UK, International Premiere)
phantom
(Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Producer: Julia Kozakiewicz, Pinky Gundale, Netherlands, Thailand, International Premiere)
Futra
(Director: Lin Yuqing, Producer: Lin Yuqing, China, UK, World Premiere)
The Park (Dancing on the rubble of empire)
(Director: Arwa Abulawa, Turab Shah, Producer: Turab Shah, Arwa Abulawa, UK, World Premiere)
they don’t remember (anymore)
(Director: Hira Nabi, Producer: Hira Nabi, Pakistan, World Premiere)
This is already suffocating
(Director: Vika Kirchenbauer, Producer: Vika Kirchenbauer, Germany, International Premiere)
ti yl tt edr ps ff sp c
(Director: Anne Gri Frith Christensen, Producer: Anne Gri Frith Christensen, Denmark, World Premiere)
your card is bleeding
(Director: Kore Frang, Producer: Ali Khurshid, Kore Frang, Denmark, World Premiere)
