IMS at CPH:DOX 2024

This year, CPH:DOX and IMS will present a wide range of films with a focus on topics such as living through occupation and conflict, resisting discrimination and injustice and the importance of family, land and lineage. We are proudly presenting films, filmmakers and film stakeholders from Palestine, Afghanistan, Georgia, Iraq, Lebanon and Morocco. IMS is sponsoring and presenting the CPH:DOX F:ACT AWARD 2024 and throughout the festival, we are hosting several industry events to support and promote filmmakers from majority world countries.

See the full CPH:DOX 2024 programme here: CPH:DOX (cphdox.dk)

FILM SCREENINGS 

PALESTINE
BYE BYE TIBERIAS
Lina Soualem / Frankrig, Palestina, Belgien & Qatar / 2023 / 82 min
Four generations of Palestinian women give vivid and moving accounts of their relationship with their homeland, their hometown of Tiberias, and the resistance that has been passed down from mother to daughter.

13 March, 17:00, Kunsthal Charlottenborg + talk
After the screening, we invite you to a conversation and readings from authors Sara Rahmeh (‘Langt væk og lige om hjørnet’) and Moussa Mchangama (‘Tekster om hjem’). They will read from their own works and talk about literary treatments of themes such as home, grief, language, memories and family. The conversation will be moderated by June Dahy, Associate Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen. The event is presented in collaboration with IMS, International Media Support.

16 March, 14.45, Empire Bio

23 March, 16.00, Kunsthal Charlottenborg

NO OTHER LAND
Rachel Szor, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra & Hamdan Bilal / Palestine / 2024 / International Premiere / 95 min
The alliance between a young Palestinian activist in the occupied West Bank and an Israeli journalist provides a unique and human insight into a decades-old conflict, as the two fight against the forced expulsion of the Masafer Yatta community. A film created by a Palestinian-Israeli collective.

16 March, 14:00, Grand Teatret + talk
Together with Regional Director at International Media Support, Michael Irving Jensen, we delve into the historical and current conflict, the settlers’ involvement in the West Bank and the intensification after October 7th 2023. The conversation will be moderated by international correspondent at TV 2, Simi Jan. Presented in collaboration with IMS, International Media Support.

18 March, 16.30, Dagmar

19 March, 16.30, Dagmar

21 March, 16.45, Bremen + Q&A with directors Abraham Yuval & Basel Adra

23 March, 13.00, Kunsthal Charlottenborg+ talk
Meet the film’s protagonists and co-directors, Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham. After the movie, they talk about the importance of solidarity throughout years of conflict and the current situation in the West Bank.

No Other Land will also be screened in seven cities in different areas of Danmark as part of DOX:DENMARK. See the full programme and find a screening near you.

AFGHANISTAN
HOLLYWOODGATE
Ibrahim Nash’at / Germany & United States / 2023 / 91 min
A filmmaker makes a pact with the devil and risks his life to tag along when the Taliban take over an abandoned US military base in Afghanistan. An unforgettable and chilling insight into a radically alien mentality.

16 March, 17.00, Pressen + talk
Together with journalist and documentary filmmaker Nagieb Khaja and human rights advocate, chairperson of Rapolitics and founder of the charity organisation ANaR, which works to improve the living conditions of women and children in Afghanistan, Manila Ghafuri, the film’s director, Ibrahim Nash’at, we delve into the complexities of Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. Moderated by Politiken’s international commentator Michael Jarlner, we discuss the critical role of journalism in ensuring transparency and accountability. Presented in collaboration with IMS, International Media Support.

17 March, 21.15, Grand Teatret

21 March, 21.15, Dagmar

GEORGIA
BLUEBERRY DREAMS
Elena Mikaberidze / Georgia, France, Belgium & Qatar / 2024 / World Premiere / 75 min
A warm and understatedly humourous film about a Georgian family’s project to start a blueberry farm in an area where old conflicts rumble underground. A young film from the old world, where the family’s two sons dream of a different future.

19 March, 19:15, Dagmar Teatret + Q&A: Meet the director After the film, the Georgian Embassy will serve a glass of Georgian wine.

22 March, 17:00, Dagmar Teatret

24 March, 18.30, Kunsthal Charlottenborg

IRAQ
IMMORTALS
Maja Tschumi / Switzerland & Iraq / 2024 / World Premiere / 94 min / Nominated for the DOX:AWARD
A feminist who sneaks out of the house dressed as a man and a filmmaker who uses his camera as a weapon. Milo and Khalili are two young Iraqis who risk their lives for freedom and the future in an unusual and cinematic film about life in Baghdad.

15 March, 19.00, Cinemateket

17 March, 13.30, Empire Bio + talk
In 2019, protesters took to the streets in Iraq for political change. The uprising was called a revolution, driven by activist forces and ultimately suppressed by both security forces and militias. Many lives were lost, and after the uprising, even more activists were left trying to find their footing in life again. Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to have been part of an uprising in Iraq? After the movie Immortals, CPH:DOX’s Youth Editorial invites you to a conversation about the current social and political situation in Iraq. The conversation will focus on the conditions for young people in the country and civilian uprisings for change across the Middle East. Henrik Andersen, Program Manager for IMS, International Media Support’s work in Iraq, and Waleed Safi, Middle East correspondent from Information, will join the conversation, which will be moderated by Maya Dyval Bayraktar from CPH:DOX’s Youth Editorial.

21 March, 16.45, Cinemateket

23 March, 12.15, Empire Bio

LEBANON
DANCING ON THE EDGE OF A VOLCANO
Cyril Aris / Lebanon & Germany / 2023 / 87 min
A Lebanese film crew is hit by a deluge of obstacles while shooting the feature film ‘Costa Brava, Lebanon’. But team spirit and a solid sense of humour win out in the end in a wonderful film about sticking together against all odds.

16 March, 21.30, Dagmar

19 March, 18.30, Dagmar + talk
A conversation about positive body politics and the Arab women who create cinema under extreme conditions. Together with among others director and actress Mounia Akl (‘Costa Brava, Lebanon’), we welcome you to a conversation about women empowerment through film. We dive into how to hold on to the stories of yourself and those you love – through storms, lies and explosions. Can the accumulation of adversity also help create something extraordinary? The conversation will be moderated by Aram Ostadian-Binai, Founder and CEO of ‘The Soulfuls’ and DEI Creative Consultant. Presented in collaboration with The Soulfuls and Rawiyat – Sisters in Film.

MOROCCO
THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES
Asmae El Moudir / Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia & Qatar / 2023 / 96 min
Last year’s critically acclaimed Cannes winner is a Moroccan filmmaker’s attempt to reconstruct her family’s shadowy past. A miniature model of the family’s labyrinthine neighbourhood in Casablanca is an important piece in a cinematic puzzle.

19 March, 21.30, Dagmar + Q&A with director Asmae el Moudir

24 March, Grand Teatret

F:ACT AWARD 

Together with the Danish Union of Journalists, IMS sponsors this year’s F:ACT AWARD. The award honours films that operate in the space where investigative journalism and documentary filmmaking. The award will be presented at the CPH:DOX Award show on 22 March 2024 by Jesper Højberg (IMS) and Tine Johansen (Danish Union of Journalists). 

The nominated films for the F:ACT AWARD 2024 are:  

• Black snow, Alina Simone / United States
• Can’t feel nothing, David Borenstein / Denmark
• Daughter of Genghis, Kristoffer Juel Poulsen, Christian Als & Knud Brix / Denmark, Sweden, France
• Democracy Noir, Connie Field / United States, Germany, Denmark
• Lie to me, Baar Tyrmi / Norway
• Limits of Europe, Apolena Rychlíková / Czech Republic, Slovakia, France
• Night of the coyotes, Clara Trischler / Germany, Austria
• Stray bodies, Elin Psykou / Greece, Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria
• The battle for Laikipia, Daphne Matziaraki & Peter Murimi / United States, Kenya
• Union, Brett Story & Stephen Maing / United States

INDUSTRY

CPH:FORUM 

At CPH:FORUM, top producers and highly acknowledged directors from all over the world take the stage to pitch 30 carefully selected projects of documentary features and series in the intersection of non-fiction, fiction, visual art, journalism and science.  

CHANGE 

CHANGE is our development co-production training program in collaboration with IMS and EAVE, featuring documentary projects in development from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Committing to the power of documentary to catalyse change, the ambition of CHANGE is to increase equity and access to the international film market with a programme that will stimulate inter-regional co-production and connect projects, filmmakers and producers from the European Eastern Partnership countries with the international film professionals gathered annually at CPH:DOX.

As a part of this overall mission, eight projects developed by CHANGE will be presented for the first time at CPH:FORUM 2024 to the international industry. The Copenhagen pitch will be a culmination of a 6-month long training program, consisting of three residential workshops, the first two of which will take place in Tbilisi, Georgia in November 2023 and in Chișinău, Moldova in January 2024, the third to be held in Copenhagen in March 2024 in partnership with the National Film School of Denmark.

The objective of the programme is to improve the participants’ skills in defining the content, core and goals of the film projects; in regional and international collaboration and co-production, financing structures and production environment; and in preparing for the encounter with the international market.

The selected projects for the 2023/2024 edition are: 

• Land of fairy tales and dreams, prod. Calin Laur, dir. Denis Pavlovic, Moldova
• Lessons in chemistry, prod. Daria Yurkevich, Egor Efimov, dir. Helene Jasinskaya, Belarus
• Echoes of Avey, prod. Durna Safarova, dir. Atanur Nabiyeva, Azerbaijan
• People X, prod. Katerina Barushka, dir. Tanya Haurylchyk, Belarus/Germany
• Sacred Songs, prod. Mariam Bitsadze, dir. Nona Giunashvili, Georgia
• Nana’s wind, prod. Mariam Chachia, dir. Maradia Tsaava, Georgia
• Between strange borders, prod. Mira Oyetoro, dir. Sabina Asadova, Mira Oyetoro, Ukraine
• The ferryman, prod. Olha Symonenko

LAND OF FAIRY TALES AND DREAMS (MOLDOVA)
prod. Calin Laur / GLASS FROG FILMS / dir. Denis Pavlovic

A mythical story about Europe’s smallest tourism industry, in a pseudo state called Pridnestrovie, better known as Transnistria. A film about the fragile existence of one man and his family, who developed this business in a region, sandwiched between Moldova and the Ukraine, that is for over 30 years on the verge of collapsing. The film follows Andrey on his quest to become the greatest tour guide in this so-called country and on this journey questions our perception of identity, reality and the world we are living in.

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY (BELARUS)
prod. Daria Yurkevich, Egor Efimov / dir. Helene Jasinskaya / Belarus

The story of “Lessons in Chemistry,” based on Levon Khatatrian’s personal archives, offers a unique and intimate perspective on period of his political imprisonment and the punishment referred to as “Chemistry” shed light on the challenges faced by political activists in Belarus.

ECOES OF AVEY (AZERBAIJAN)
prod. Durna Safarova / dir. Atanur Nabiyeva / Azerbaijan

Filmmaker Atanur returns to her childhood home Mount Avey which is disappearing gradually. Looking for the traces of her memories that are vanishing with the mountain, she meets a family that becomes a bridge to reconnect with her past.

PEOPLE X (BELARUS, GERMANY)
prod. Katerina Barushka / dir. Tanya Haurylchyk / Belarus/Germany

Yalinka was the only student in her class for nine years. This solitude was the consequence of her parents’ wish to educate her in the Belarusian language. Or was it the consequence of a decades-long ruthless policy of Russification by the Belarusian state? To uphold their values the family had to flee Belarus. Now their principles are put to the test yet again – should they assimilate in a new country or continue to stand out?

SACRED SONGS (GEORGIA)
prod. Mariam Bitsadze / dir. Nona Giunashvili / Georgia

In the Pankisi Valley, a film unfolds the story of four Muslim women singers battling radical Islam’s influence. Through sacred Sufi songs, they unite to preserve tradition, resist extremism, and navigate the delicate balance between their way of life and the challenges of the contemporary world.

NANA’S WIND (GEORGIA)
Prod. Mariam Chachia / dir. Maradia Tsaava / Georgia

A fairytale about Nana fighting the darkness with her art.

BETWEEN STRANGE BORDERS (UKRAINE)
prod. Mira Oyetoro / dir. Sabina Asadova, Mira Oyetoro / Ukraine

Three sisters reunite in an occupied part of Moldova for a family visit, and a journey of self-discovery ensues.

THE FERRYMAN (UKRAINE)
prod. Olha Symonenko / dir. Pavlo Dorohoi / Ukraine

Danylo Bakhmutskiy lives in the riverside town of Staryi Saltiv, Northeast Ukraine. He was running an improvised ferry service alongside adult men, shuttling people and goods across the Siverskiy Donets river. His dreams of continuing studies at a sports academy to become a competitive kayaking athlete were dashed, by the need to earn money for the survival of his family.

IMS’ support to documentary filmmakers from the MENA region and the Eastern European countries is funded by the Danish-Arab Partnership Programme and the New Democracy Fund.

IMS has supported hundreds of documentary films since we started our documentary programme more than 15 years ago. See our film catalogue and read more about why and how we work with documentary filmmakers here: Documentary film | IMS (mediasupport.org)