CPH:FORUM Lineup Includes Projects From ‘Honeyland,’ ‘Ascension,’ ‘Time Trial’ Filmmakers

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 Louverture Films, led by producer Maya E. Rudolph, who produced Emmy-nominated “The Andy Warhol Diaries,” and associate producer 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.

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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.

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.

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

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