Alongside its five competitive sections, the CPH:DOX documentary film festival celebrates its 15th edition (15-25 March) with a number of new theme-based series.
'Social Experiments' is this year's major theme, running as a common narrative through the programme – from Marcus Lindeen's 'The Raft' about a failed expedition over the Atlantic in the early 70s, to a replay of a German reality show, Katharina Knust and Jana Magdalena Keuchel's 'Last Year in Utopia.' An exhibition will be held at the art space Kunsthal Charlottenborg as well as a curated film programme, both giving a contemporary and historical view of social experiments in film, art and politics.
False Confessions
Would you confess to a crime you did not commit? Each year innumerable American suspects do, and experts say that trained interrogators can get anybody to confess to anything. Defence attorney Jane Fisher-Byrialsen is determined to put an end to interrogation techniques that all too often pressure innocent people into false confessions. The film follows four of her cases, all involving false confessions, and examines the psychological aspect of how people end up confessing to crimes they have not committed and the consequences of these confessions – for those accused, for their families and for society at large.
'Justice,' a new permanent programme starting up this year, focuses on how civil rights and individual freedom are challenged by our fear of terrorism, migration and globalisation. Films exploring the subject include Monika Hielscher and Matthias Heeder's 'Pre-Crime,' a documentary sci-fi thriller about how surveillance and big data promise us a world without crime, and Erika Cohn's 'The Judge' about the world's first female Sharia judge.
CPH:SCIENCE is dedicated to the growing field between film and science, introducing the inaugural Science Film Forum, an initiative unfolding during the industry days seeking to spark new projects between filmmakers and scientists.
'The Great Game' by Andreas Dalsgaard. Photo: Haslund Film
Danish world premieres in competition
CPH:DOX presents five competition programmes, which include the world premieres of nine Danish titles.
The main DOX:AWARD competition features Søren Steen Jespersen and Nasib Farah's Lost Warrior about a former radicalised Islamist caught in limbo. Jespersen is one of the producers behind the Oscar-nominated 'Last Men in Aleppo,' which also won last year's main DOX:AWARD. The competition also includes Andreas Dalsgaard's The Great Game, an odd road trip to the far East, uncovering a lost family story. See all films nominated for the DOX:AWARD.
Danish films in the NORDIC:DOX line-up include Max Kestner's Bad Circumstances about a mythical Greenland expedition, Cille Hannibal's The Night We Fell about loss and how to move on, and Lasse Lau's The Happy Native reflecting on Greenland's historical ties to Denmark. See all films nominated for the NORDIC:DOX award.
The F:ACT AWARD for investigative and socially committed documentaries presents Katrine Philp's examination of questionable interrogation techniques in False Confessions. See all films nominated for the F:ACT award.
The Great Game
Michael and his father, the old Lord Chamberlain Soren Haslund-Christensen, are in the attic to find hidden treasures from the past. Grandfather Henning was a famous explorer and heritage collector among Mongolian tribes and Michael has heard rumours that Henning lived a secret double life as a British agent and gunrunner. Now he wants to find out if it's true.
Selected for the NEW:VISION award, dedicated to experimental filmmaking, is Pia Rönicke's short film Word for Forrest, which maps a seed's journey from the Botanical Gardens in Copenhagen to its original habitat in the Mexican mountains of Oaxaca. See all films nominated for the NEW:VISION award.
Finally, nominated for the NEXT:WAVE award for films by visual artists and emerging young talents are Frederik Sølberg's Doel, a mood report from a village on the fringes of Europe, and Maria von Hausswolff and Anne Gry Fiis Kristensen's Entrance to the End shot on 16mm deep inside the Panama jungle. Hausswolff was cinematographer on Hlynur Pálmason's critically acclaimed debut feature 'Winter Brothers.' See all films nominated for the NEXT:WAVE award.
A selection of new Danish documentaries from established and upcoming filmmakers is presented in the DANISH:DOX series, including the world premieres of several feature documentaries. See all films in the DANISH:DOX series.
