CPH:FORUM, the financing and co-production event held during CPH:DOX documentary film festival in Copenhagen, will introduce new projects by filmmakers such as Ljubomir Stefanov (“Honeyland”), Jessica Kingdon (“Ascension”), Finlay Pretsell (“Time Trial”), Ousmane Samassekou (“The Last Shelter”), Mila Turajlić (“The Other Side of Everything”), Tonislav Hristov (“The Good Postman”), Iryna Tsilyk (“The Earth Is Blue as an Orange”) and Brett Story (“The Hottest August”), among others.
Stefanov, who was nominated for an Oscar for “Honeyland,” will be pitching “House of Earth.” He teams with producer Maya E. Rudolph, who produced Emmy-nominated “The Andy Warhol Diaries,” and Sarah D’hanens. The film centers on transgender sex worker Pinky, who returns to her Roma community after 30 years, and finds two families in need of a matriarch. Torn between her biological kin and chosen queer family, Pinky attempts to build a future that feels like home.
Kingdon, who was Oscar nominated for “Ascension,” arrives with “Untitled Animal Project,” reteaming with “Ascension” producer-cinematographer Nathan Truesdell. Jamie Gonçalves also produces. Shot at locations around the world, the film “weaves together ways consumer industries affect various species – with a focus on the elusive idea of animal sentience.”
The lineup (see here for full details) presents a curated slate of 33 projects – bringing together more than 70 filmmakers and producers from 25 countries. It is curated “for the films to reflect each other and collectively point to some of the major issues of the world politics, culture and society,” the festival said.
Tereza Simikova, head of industry and training at CPH:DOX, said: “In a time of increasing polarization and radicalization of society, it’s inspiring to see filmmakers having complicated, nuanced conversations around such timely issues as the legacy of colonialism, inequality and free speech, but also cancel culture and the role of activism, arts and science in today’s society. Remarkably, they find also a great deal of hope, humor and beauty while doing so.”
More than 250 financiers have confirmed that they will attend, including streaming platforms such as Disney+, Netflix and Hulu; broadcasters such as ARTE, ZDF, BBC, CNN, National Geographic, POV and DR; film studios Participant Media, Amazon Studios, Concordia Studio, Fremantle, A24, Sandbox Films and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios; and philanthropic foundations such as Sundance Institute, Doc Society, Chicken and Egg Pictures, Catapult, Open Society Foundations, Freedom of Speech Foundation, and Blue Ice Docs.
“Cuba&Alaska”
The event runs March 21-23, with CPH:WIP (works-in-progress) and CHANGE presentations taking place on March 20.
This year, CPH:WIP will present eight projects. The titles include projects from established filmmakers such as Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Camilla Magid, Håvard Bustnes and Zippy Kimundu, who will show scenes from their upcoming films and look for gap financing or a launch pad for further distribution.
In 2021 CPH:DOX partnered with IMS (International Media Support) and EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) to run the development co-production training program CHANGE, featuring projects from six Eastern European countries – Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The second edition of the six-month long training program will have its last residential workshop in Copenhagen, organized in partnership with the National Film School of Denmark. The program will culminate with a presentation of the eight participating projects at the CHANGE pitch session on March 20.
CPH:FORUM will present the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000 for the event’s best pitch of a project intended for co-production.
“Fighting Demons With Dragons”
The selected CPH:FORUM projects:
#WhileBlack, U.S.
By Sidney Fussell and Samantha Knowles, produced by Ann Shin and Geeta Gandbhir
Almost Human, Norway/Denmark
By Ola Waagen, produced by Bjarte Mørner Tveit and Peter Engel.
Confidential, U.S./Denmark
By “Confidential,” produced by Sigrid Dyekjaer, Ross Levine
Conscious, U.K.
By Suki Chan, produced by Aimara Reques
Cuba&Alaska, Ukraine/France
By Yegor Troyanovsky, produced by Olha Beskhmelnytsina and Christian Popp
The Dawn of the Post Plantation, Netherlands/Germany
By Renzo Martens, produced by Lea Fels
Douglas Gordon: Self Divided, U.K./France
By Finlay Pretsell, produced by Sonja Henrici
Dreams of a Dark Sky, India
By Anmol Tikoo, produced by Raghu Karnad
Dreamscape, France/Mali
By Ousmane Samassekou, produced by Estelle Robin You and Andrey S. Diarra
The Eukrainian, Sweden/France/Ukraine
By Viktor Nordenskiöld, produced by Viktor Nordenskiöld, Christian Popp and Olga Beskhmelnytsina
Evo: The Burnt Palace, U.S./Argentina
By Martin Sivak and Noah Friedman-Rudovsky, produced by Justine Nagan and Irene Cajias
Far From Maine, Israel/France/Palestine
By Roy Cohen, produced by Roy Cohen and Serge Gordey
Generation Z, Denmark/U.K.
By David Borenstein, produced by Helle Faber
Give It a Shot, India/U.S.
By Vaishali Sinha, produced by Hemang Chheda, Tracie Holder, Jessica Harrop and Greg Boustead
House of Earth, North Macedonia/U.S.
By Ljubomir Stefanov, produced by Maya E. Rudolph and Sarah D’hanens
The Infinite Rehearsal, U.K./Guyana
By Louis Henderson, produced by Luke Moody and Romola Lucas
Intercepted, Canada/France/Ukraine
By Oksana Karpovych, produced by Giacomo Nudi
The Menopause Mystery, Denmark
By Louise Unmack Kjeldsen, produced by Malene Flindt Pedersen
The Lions at the River Tigris, Norway
By Ahmed Zaradasht, produced by Thorvald Nilsen
Once Upon a Time in a Forest, Finland
By Virpi Suutari, produced by Virpi Suutari
Only on Earth, Denmark/Spain
By Robin Petré, produced by Signe Skov Thomsen and Malene Flindt Pedersen
Opening Night, Sweden
By Aron Skoog and John Skoog, produced by Aron Skoog and John Skoog
Our Love, Sweden/Finland/Germany
By Hannah Reinikainen and Lia Hietala, produced by Melissa Lindgren
Part of Society, Georgia
By Rati Tsiteladze, produced by Olga Slusareva
The Production of the World, Canada/U.S.
By Brex Story, produced by Jeff Reichert
Red Zone, Ukraine
By Iryna Tsilyk, produced by Darya Bassel
Second World, Second Sex, Serbia
By Mila Turajlić, produced by Carine Chichkowsky
Truth.com, Finland/Bulgaria
By Tonislav Hristov, produced by Kaarle Aho
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other, U.K./Denmark
By Jacob Perlmuxer, produced by Manon Ouimet and Signe Byrge Sørensen
Untitled Animal Project, U.S.
By Jessica Kingdon, produced by Nathan Truesdell and Jamie Gonçalves
Untitled Dwarfism Project, U.S.
By Julie Forrest Wyman, produced by Lindsey Dryden and Jonna McKone
Voice/over, Hungary
By Balint Revesz, produced by Viki Reka Kiss
We Have Always Lived in the End Times, Germany
By Ben Russell, produced by Guillaume Cailleau
The selected CPH:WIP projects:
Adil, Norway/ Netherlands
By Adil Khan and Julian Nazario Vargas, produced by Eirik Smidesang Slåen and Elisabeth Opdal
The Animated Mind of Oliver Sacks, U.S./U.K.
By Dempsey Rice, produced by Lori Cheatle
Before the Storm, Denmark
By Juan Palacios and Sofie Husum Johannesen, produced by Kasper Lykke Schultz
Fighting Demons With Dragons, Denmark
By Camilla Magid, produced by Heidi Elise Christensen
The Ground Beneath Our Feet, Israel/Palestine
by Yrsa Roca Fannberg, produced by Hanna Björk Valsdó|r
Phantoms of Sierra Madre, Norway/Finland
By Håvard Bustnes, produced by Christian Aune Falch, Håvard Bustnes
Testament, Kenya/U.S./Portugal/Germany
By Zippy Kimundu and Meena Nanji, produced by Zippy Kimundu, Meena Nanji and Eliane Ferreira
The selected CHANGE projects:
A Bit of a Stranger, Ukraine
By Svitlana Lishchynska, produced by Anna KapusKna
Boxes From Georgia, Georgia
By Gvantsa Meparishvili, produced by Tiko Nadirashvili
Flow, Palestine/Belarus
By Belarusian Filmmakers
Here, Between This Sea and Those Mountains, Georgia
By Keti Machavariani, produced by Keti Machavariani
How Long Is the Echo?, Armenia
By Merri Mkrtchyan, produced by Yelizaveta Petrosyan
Kartli, Georgia
By Julien Pebrel and Tamar Kalandadze, produced by Ketevan Kipiani and Jean-Baptiste Bonnet
Memo ‘94, Ukraine
By Kornii Hrytsiuk, produced by Anna Palenchuk
Strange Sea, Azerbaijan
By Lala Aliyeva, produced by Aysel Akhundova
