CPH:DOX, the documentary movie competition based mostly out of Copenhagen in Denmark, has revealed the jury winners for its 2025 version. Viewers Award prizes will probably be introduced in April.
Greater than 90 characteristic movies screened in Copenhagen this previous week, together with the European premiere of Sundance favorites like “The Excellent Neighbor,” directed by Geeta Gandbhir, whose bodycam-based documentary a few wrongful killing in Florida in 2023 is positioned as one in every of Netflix’s forthcoming prime awards contenders this yr. Additionally bowing in Copenhagen had been Amy Berg’s music doc “It’s By no means Over, Jeff Buckley,” Amber Fares’ portrait of Israeli comic Noam Shuster-Eliassi with “Coexistence, My Ass!” David Osit’s “Predators,” in regards to the rise and fall of NBC’s controversial documentary TV collection “To Catch a Predator,” additionally bowed at CPH:DOX and will probably be launched by MTV later this yr.
However CPH:DOX, which has been going since 2008 and is progressively turning into a primary cease for documentary premieres forward of festivals like Toronto’s Sizzling Docs and DOC NYC in New York and IDFA in Amsterdam in November, additionally world-premiered 56 titles. Twelve had been eligible for the DOX:Award in the primary competitors, with jurors together with Rikke Tambo Andersen (producer), Max Kestner (producer), Nicolas Rapold (journalist), Adele Tulli (director), and Raul Niño Zambrano (inventive director of Sheffield DocFest).
The highest prize went to Deming Chen’s “At all times” from China, a strikingly photographed black-and-white portrait of an eight-year-old boy within the Hunan province who discovers a ardour for poetry. (Serving on Danish journal Ekko’s evaluation grid this yr, I fairly favored the movie, which is contemplative and exhibits the filmmaker’s affinity for forming closeness to his topics and exhibiting their household tragedies.) A particular point out went to Monica Strømdahl’s “Flophouse America,” an actually devastating portrait of a 12-year-old boy’s makes an attempt to lift himself alongside his impoverished and alcoholic dad and mom in a cramped lodge room. Solely a European director may get so shut with such little sentimentality to her American topics — I count on this emotionally highly effective documentary to discover a residence in the US.
The F:ACT Award, with a jury led by Alexis Bloom, Mikala Krogh, and Steffi Niederzoll, went to Mstyslav Chernov’s “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a Sundance premiere PBS has rights to. The extreme you-are-there movie is informed totally via bodycam footage of Ukrainian troopers combating on the frontlines of a very brutal counteroffensive towards Russia. Chernov beforehand received the 2024 Greatest Documentary Function Oscar for “20 Days in Mariupol,” a PBS Frontline-produced documentary in regards to the warfare in Ukraine.
Ketevan Vashagashvili’s “9-Month Contract” received the Human:Rights Award, from a jury led by Mohamed Saïd Ouma, Tomáš Poštulka, and Birgitte Stærmose. It’s a portrait of the surrogate motherhood trade in Tbilisi and is in search of a U.S. distributor; Vashagashvili fashioned an in depth relationship together with her topic, a determined single mom from Georgia who sees no different method to give her teenage daughter a greater life.
Different prizes handed out included the Nordic:DOX Award (“Partitions,” about ladies looking for justice in Greenland), the Subsequent:Wave Award (“Abode of Daybreak,” a few just lately dismantled however nonetheless traumatizing Christian cult in Siberia), and the New:Imaginative and prescient Award (Juliette Le Monnier’s Israeli-Palestine battle documentary “Ramallah, Palestine, December 2018”).
See the total checklist of winners out of CPH:DOX under.
DOX:AWARD
Winner: ‘ALWAYS’ by Deming Chen / US, FR & CN / 2025 / World Premiere
Particular Point out: ‘FLOPHOUSE AMERICA’ by Monica Strømdahl / NO, NL & US / 2025 / World Premiere
Sponsored by Politiken and Politiken-Fonden with a prize of €10,000, the DOX:AWARD is the competition’s principal competitors, honoring movies with inventive high quality, cultural relevance, and powerful private expression.
The jury consisted of Rikke Tambo Andersen, Max Kestner, Nicolas Rapold, Adele Tulli and Raul Niño Zambrano.
F:ACT AWARD
Winner: ‘2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA’ by Mstyslav Chernov / UA / 2025 / European Premiere
Particular Point out: ‘THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR’ by Geeta Gandbhir / US / 2025 / Worldwide Premiere
Supported by Worldwide Media Help (IMS) and the Danish Union of Journalists with a prize of €5,000, the F:act Award competitors acknowledges movies mixing documentary and investigative journalism.
The jury consisted of Alexis Bloom, Mikala Krogh and Steffi Niederzoll.
HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD
Winner: ‘9-MONTH CONTRACT’ by Ketevan Vashagashvili / GE, BG & DE / 2025 / World Premiere
Particular Point out: ‘THE ENCAMPMENTS’ by Michael T. Workman & Kei Pritsker / US / 2025 / World Premiere
Awarded for the second consecutive yr, the Human:Rights Award is sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights with a prize of €5,000, and focuses on movies coping with human rights points.
The jury consisted of Mohamed Saïd Ouma, Tomáš Poštulka and Birgitte Stærmose.
NORDIC:DOX AWARD
Winner: ‘WALLS – AKINNI INUK’ by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam / GL/ 2025 / World Premiere
Particular Point out: ‘THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH’ by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes / DK / 2025 / World Premiere
The NORDIC:DOX Award (€5,000) honors standout documentaries from the Nordic area.
The jury consisted of Butheina Kazim, Dario Oliveira and Roja Pakari.
NEXT:WAVE AWARD
Winner: ‘ABODE OF DAWN’ by Kristina Shtubert / DE / 2024 / Worldwide Premiere
Particular Point out: ‘WHO WITNESSED THE TEMPLES FALL’ by Lucía Selva / SP / 2025 / World Premiere
The NEXT:WAVE Award (€5,000) highlights new and rising filmmakers.
The jury consisted of Sissel Morell Dargis, Sona Karapoghosyan and María Palacios Cruz.
NEW:VISION
Winner: ‘RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, DECEMBER 2018’ by Juliette Le Monniyer / BE / 2025 / World Premiere
Particular point out: ‘SCRAP’ by Noémie Lobry
FR / 2025 / World Premiere
The NEW:VISION Award (€5,000) celebrates artwork movies and boundary-pushing experiments.
The jury consisted of Mason Leaver-Yap, Jeppe Lange and Marina Kožul.
INTER:ACTIVE AWARD
Winner: ‘CONSTANTINOPOLIAD’ by Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly / UK / Set up / 2025 / Worldwide Premiere
Particular Point out: ‘THE GARDEN SAYS…’ by Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breyne / DK / XR Perfomance-Set up / 2025 / World Premiere
The award winner will obtain a profitable package deal together with two complimentary trade accreditations for Sunny Facet of the Doc, two full entry accreditations for the Trade Days of New Photographs Competition, 6 hours of authorized session on European IP legislation and a money prize of €1000.
The jury consisted of Irene Campolmi, David Adler and Carl Emil Carlsen.