CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, has unveiled the program for its industry strand CPH:Industry, consisting of the CPH:DOX Summit and the CPH:Conference, which will take place in the Danish capital March 16–19.
The program will be “tackling the ‘infrastructure of truth’ under political pressure, platform power, and AI disruption,” organizers said on Monday. “Anchored by the Summit’s focus on ‘Safe Havens’ – independent spaces where voices circulate without algorithmic suppression and outside pressure – the program extends into conference sessions exploring ethics, sonic cinema, and future alliances.” Featured speakers include John Wilson, Sara Dosa, Sinéad O’Shea, Poh Si Teng, Joe Bini, Irma Dimitradze, Bea Wangondu, Tracy Rector, Adam Khalil, Nathan Grossman, Hira Nabi and Keith Wilson, among others.
“We see the CPH:Conference and CPH:DOX Summit as a moment to come together and reflect on the deep changes and challenges we need to tackle head-on as an industry,” said Mara Gourd-Mercado, head of industry & training at CPH:DOX. “This year’s program serves as a hub for bold conversations on challenging conglomerates’ power over content, securing ‘safe havens’ for independent voices, looking at AI as a tool, and redefining our relationship to it. Through hands-on discussions and insights from industry leaders, the program promises to spark fresh ideas and equip filmmakers with tactical tools to bypass algorithms and resist censorship, amongst other things.”
The CPH:DOX Summit on Monday, March 16 will take place under the theme of “Media Sovereignty: Rethink, Envision, Redefine.” Organizers described it as “a strategic response to Europe’s democratic recession” and a chance to go “beyond diagnosis to redefine media sovereignty in an era of U.S. platform dependence.”
It will open with a keynote by Bruno Patino, president of ARTE France. The summit will conclude with a session entitled “Tales From the Frontlines,” featuring Joanna Krawczyk (journalist, Correctiv.Europe), Irma Dimitradze (journalist, Georgia), and Bea Wangondu (journalist/ director, Kikuyu Land), who will “share tactical approaches for resisting censorship and utilizing grassroots innovations – from AI-powered fact-checking to cross-border partnerships – to restore trust and protect local democracy.”
The CPH:Conference, starting on Tuesday, March 17, will kick off with such sessions as “A Morning With: Poh Si Teng,” dissecting the ethics of directing in conflict zones via her debut American Doctor, a conversation about Sara Dosa’s Time and Water, “The Art of Listening,” and “What Is Truth Anyway.”
Day 2 will feature a conversation with Irish doc maker and All About the Money director Sinéad O’Shea, a session dubbed “Constructing Your Own Cinematic Language,” and a panel on “Rekindling the Machine – Documentary in the Age of AI.” Plus, “We’re All Doomed – Can Hope Survive the Permacrisis?” will explore “if we can tell dystopian stories that foster solidarity instead of despair.”
The final day of the conference “begins with HBO cult icon John Wilson, known for his unique stream-of-consciousness style in How to With John Wilson,” according to organizers. “In conversation with Thom Powers, Wilson will discuss his dry wit and eclectic approach to his latest feature, The History of Concrete.”
Also in the spotlight will be “Updated Reflections on Contemporary Palestinian Documentary Filmmaking,” a session in which members of the Palestinian delegation will discuss “how diverse cinematic approaches to historic Palestine can heal trauma and act as cultural resistance against erasure.”
Finally, “Position, Privilege and the Epistemic Power of the Gaze: Towards Narrative Positionality” will examine “the ethics of narrative positionality with Nathan Grossman (director, Amazomania)” and others “The session asks filmmakers to consider how their closeness or distance to a subject – and their relationship with the people filmed – shapes the story they tell and the on-screen representation of those people.”
