Stronger, bigger than ever amid global tensions, this year’s industry arm of the prestigious CPH:DOX international documentary festival will be showcasing an exceptional program in Copenhagen between March 23-28. For the first time ever, an annual Summit will bring together global thinkers, politicians, researchers and documentary professionals for an overview of trends and critical issues in documentary filmmaking. Inspiring talks will spill over the five-day CPH:CONFERENC, dedicated to new paradigms, while 36 projects from 26 countries will be pitched to more than 350 decision-makers and distributors at the CPH:FORUM.
We spoke to Mara Gourd-Mercado, head of industry and training, and Katrine Kiilgaard, managing director of CPH:DOX, on the eve of CPH:Industry.
This year’s CPH:DOX will be held under extreme tension politically, with Europe being challenged in its core values, while the world of documentary continues to grapple with the shifting media landscape. How do you feel about hosting CPH:DOX Industry under such extraordinary circumstances?
Katrine Kiilgaard: Well, given our commitment to address global issues through documentary filmmaking, making a festival like ours seems more important than ever before. Documentary is vital to expose truth, challenge misinformation, and to engage audiences in meaningful discussions, especially now that democratic values are under pressure across the world.
Mara Gourd-Mercado: Personally, I see documentary as a tool to forge and reinforce citizenship and shared values. This is very much needed at this point of time.
This year you are introducing major novelties, such as the Summit, with high-profile guests from around the world. How hard was it to find extra coin for this event?
Kiilgaard: Sadly, many international festivals have had budget cuts due to a reduction in public funding, but our own resources have been stable over the last few years, and we’ve even had a minor increase from the Danish Film Institute to support our growth. We are very grateful for that. When it comes to the Summit, we were lucky to get great partners [Documentary Campus and the Danish Producers Association], and to be able to raise one-off funds from two pools that support industry-related conferences in the film industry: UBOD and Producers Rights Denmark.
The Summit has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and it now feels so important to see the industry come together in one place to discuss the major issues at stake in the industry, how to address them and move forward. We chose one day before the Forum so that most people attending it could also take part in these discussions.
What have been the biggest challenges in putting together this hugely ambitious initiative?
Gourd-Mercado: Within the audio-visual world at large, we’re pretty well-established and when we ask people to attend, usually the responses are pretty quick and positive. One of the biggest challenges with the Summit has been to go beyond the industry pool that we know so well, and reach out to the policy-making world, the research world, politicians, to build a new network and trust. Fortunately, we had great partners in the Danish Producers Association, which helped us open some doors, as well as our curator Mark Edwards [former head of international co-productions, Arte France, and director of documentaries in Europe, Netflix].
The Summit program is indeed very well curated. Any particular guests that you’re very proud to welcome?
Kiilgaard: Having the Danish culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt open the event is a huge acknowledgement of our work and the importance of the documentary industry. But we have lots of interesting speakers.
Gourd-Mercado: We’re happy to have heads of Nordic film funds, but also someone like Helena Kennedy, one of the U.K.’s most distinguished lawyers, who works at the intersection of human rights and media accessibility. Then Keri Putnam [former Sundance Institute CEO] for instance will present a study about independent filmmaking and audiences in the U.S. Having that point of view is hugely important. We do have audiences. But what we lack is accessibility.
Can you present the new venue for the Forum pitches, the Royal Theatre Hall, and how close is it to the Odd Fellow Palace and Charlottenborg?
Kiilgaard: It’s been a challenge to lose our former venue for the Forum, but luckily, we managed to sign an agreement with the Royal Theatre Hall for the mornings of March 25, 26, 27 where we will have the Forum pitches. Aesthetics is central to this festival, as this contributes to the overall experience of the event. I’m so happy we can host our delegates in amazing historical buildings.
Gourd-Mercado: Everything is just 8-10 minutes walking distance. That geography is what makes CPH:DOX pretty unique.
How many accredited delegates, broadcasters/platforms have signed up so far from how many countries? Do you have new players, and how does the U.S. presence look like, as this was one of your priorities for 2025, to bring Europe and the U.S. closer together?
Gourd-Mercado: We have pretty much similar numbers as last year, and we will go over for sure. Decision-makers/industry representatives are around 355. Regarding broadcasters and platforms, we’ll have around 90 from 19 different countries. We make sure to have a variety of players.
Regarding the U.S., we have around 150 attendees. Because of the political situation, some have decided to skip and see what happens, in terms of fundings, etc. However, what’s interesting is that we have more private investors interested in documentary filmmaking and urgent issues (societal, climate, etc.), who have been advised to come because of the quality of the projects and their international potential. Otherwise, we also have producers or studios coming as investors, such as Antigravity Academy, Protozoa Pictures [founded by Darren Aronofsky], Sky Germany and a new film arm at Film Transfer attending for the first time. We also help those who can’t attend on-site to watch some projects online.
You have 20 delegations – up four from last year, from the Baghdad Film Institute, to Sodec (Quebec) and Ukrainian Institute & Docudays UA. How important are those delegation meet ups for CPH:DOX?
Gourd-Mercado: We have different configurations each year and some come every year such as the Germans. For us, the goal is to organize a space where collaborations and co-productions can flourish. That’s an ideal set up for film funds, or producers’ associations to outline the landscape of co-production in their respective country or region. Some have few reps such as Ukraine as it’s tough for them to travel, but we do want to support them. Then we have for instance the Baghdad Film Institute, which hopes to reignite its film industry.
The Conference curated by the high-profile Mandy Chang will focus on New Paradigms. Could you discuss the theme, and highlight some panels that you feel will be particularly inspiring?
Gourd-Mercado: Mandy brings a breath of experience, from broadcasting to production, and that shows in the curation. ‘New Paradigms’ means we are in this world where things keep shifting – political powers, values, democracy. We’re in a space where we have to adapt almost every day to a new paradigm, in our business and society in general, and that was the motor for the conference. We were mindful to have panels across the whole chain of filmmaking, from creation, production, distribution and financing.
Among panellists, we’re excited to have Keri Putnam, but also Alexis Bloom [triple Primetime Emmy nominated filmmaker/producer], who will discuss new pathways to audience. Then art documentaries will be highlighted. We have a collaboration with the Norwegian and Danish film schools where they will present how artistic research benefits filmmakers and the industry and vice versa. Then there is a panel on equitable co-productions, where top filmmakers Anupama Srinivasan [“Flickering Lights”], Camilo Cavalcanti [“Invisible Life”] and producer Nabil Bellahsene will tackle best practice in inclusive and ethical co-productions.
CPH:FORUM, your flagship financing showcase, has 30 projects from 26 countries. How challenging was the selection process?
Gourd-Mercado: We’ve had a steady increase in submissions in the past years and have reached a record 700 this year. Our selection process hasn’t changed. We look at various criteria such as artistic value, marketability, and what we can do for each project. Then, we try to have a lineup that reflects the world as it is today.
Are there any trends in terms of themes or filmmaking styles?
Gourd-Mercado: We have projects touching upon the same themes such as migration, climate change and its effect, technology from very different points of view and regions of the world, which makes the selection so very interesting.
Kiilgaard: We take pride since the beginning in showing a very wide variety of styles, voices, and approaches within documentary.
Could you discuss the significance of the new awards – the Sandbox Film Science Pitch Prize and Al-Jazeera Doc Channel Co-Production Award?
Gourd-Mercado: Having cash prizes is really important to filmmakers. Financing has always been rough, but even more so today with cuts in public funding. Having these cash prizes might be the difference for a film being made or not, and it builds confidence in the marketplace when a film is awarded.
Kiilgaard: We’ve had a great and long collaboration with Sandbox Film and this award reinforces the science strand that we’ve been building for years. Al Jazeera’s focus on urgent matters is also essential, plus they have a platform to showcase documentaries, which is very important.
You’ve replaced the Works in Progress by ‘RoughCut’. Why?
Kiilgaard: When we evaluated last year’s event, we saw a need to develop the part of the industry platform catering for distributors. It’s a way of differentiating projects closer to release, compared to the FORUM projects. Europa Distribution will have its annual meeting at CPH:DOX, which shows the interest from theatrical buyers.
CPH:DOX industry is always keen to nurture newcomers and facilitate their access to the industry. Mara as head of training on top of Industry chief, could you say a few words about your Talent-oriented programs CPH:LAB, and Intro-Dox?
Gourd-Mercado: With Mark Atkin, head of studies and Stella Davara, who heads CPH:LAB, we’ve completely changed its format. Instead of the five-minute presentation between the interactive symposiums, we’ll have a creative coalition whereby industry representatives – technology experts, thinkers on top of financiers, will discuss each project and the next steps ahead. We’ve had several success stories with CPH:LAB projects, such as “Garden Alchemy” by Michelle and Uri Kranot [Eurimages New Lab Award for Innovation 2024], which will be back at our interactive exhibition this year. Then over the years, several projects have attended other festivals such as New Images at Sunny Side of the Doc, or Forum des Images, New Images.
Regarding Intro-Dox, it started in 2023 with one day for few people. This year, we have 100 emerging filmmakers over two days. We have to nurture the next generation of directors and producers. It’s a soft launch into the industry and a space for them to create a network of peers.
Kiilgaard: Part of our initial idea with Intro-Dox was however also to introduce established names to new ideas, as it’s the next gen of doc filmmakers who is reshaping production, distribution, working models.
How would you summarize the current state of the documentary industry?
Kiilgaard: To summarize, I would cite among key industry challenges declining public funding, crowded marketplace, increased risk aversion, impact of big tech, reshaping of public discourse. On the positive side, we’ve seen a growing need to collaborate across the entire industry, also to try to secure the values we stand for, especially amid today’s turbulent times.
Gourd-Mercado: The U.S. doc industry also feels the need to connect more than ever. That collaborative aspect is key for both sides of the pond.
You’ve joined the film and market alliance F.A.M.E. This is obviously another strong sign of collaboration with your peers to safeguard the industry and defend European culture as a whole?
Kiilgaard: Of course. Looking at the global political situation, we know what will happen, that public funding will go towards security, defense etc. and culture will probably suffer. That might affect programs such as Creative Europe. We’re getting together with our peers in Europe to try to secure the future of filmmaking, culture, training, jobs. The next step will be for all alliances to come together and work on a much bigger level for the entire industry.
