CPH:DOX Chief and Head of Industry on Their 2025 Program

Stronger, hugeger than ever amid global tensions, this year’s industry arm of the prestigious CPH:DOX international write downary festival will be showcasing an exceptional program in Cuncoverhagen between March 23-28. For the first time ever, an annual Summit will convey together global leankers, politicians, researchers and write downary professionals for an supervise of trfinishs and critical publishs in write downary 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-producers and distributors at the CPH:FORUM.

We spoke to Mara Gourd-Mercado, head of industry and training, and Katrine Kiilgaard, managing straightforwardor of CPH:DOX, on the eve of CPH:Industry.

This year’s CPH:DOX will be held under inanxious tension politicpartner, with Europe being disputed in its core cherishs, while the world of write downary carry ons to grapple with the shifting media landscape. How do you sense about presenting CPH:DOX Industry under such exceptional circumstances?
Katrine Kiilgaard: Well, donaten our promisement to insertress global publishs thcimpolite write downary filmmaking, making a festival enjoy ours seems more beginant than ever before. Documentary is vital to expose truth, dispute deceiveation, and to join audiences in uncomardentingful talkions, especipartner now that democratic cherishs are under prescertain apass the world.

Mara Gourd-Mercado: Personpartner, I see write downary as a tool to forge and upgrasp citizenship and scatterd cherishs. This is very much necessitateed at this point of time.

This year you are introducing beginant novelties, such as the Summit, with high-profile guests from around the world. How challenging was it to discover extra coin for this event?
Kiilgaard: Sadly, many international festivals have had budget cuts due to a reduction in disclose funding, but our own resources have been constant over the last scant years, and we’ve even had a inbeginant incrmitigate from the Danish Film Institute to help our prolongth. We are very appreciative for that. When it comes to the Summit, we were fortunate to get fantastic partners [Documentary Campus and the Danish Producers Association], and to be able to elevate one-off funds from two pools that help industry-joind conferences in the film industry: UBOD and Producers Rights Dentag.

The Summit has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and it now senses so beginant to see the industry come together in one place to talk the beginant publishs at sget in the industry, how to insertress them and transfer forward. We chose one day before the Forum so that most people combineing it could also get part in these talkions.

What have been the hugegest disputes in putting together this hugely driven initiative?
Gourd-Mercado: Wilean the audio-visual world at huge, we’re pretty well-set uped and when we ask people to combine, usupartner the responses are pretty rapid and preferable. One of the hugegest disputes with the Summit has been to go beyond the industry pool that we comprehend so well, and achieve out to the policy-making world, the research world, politicians, to produce a new nettoil and suppose. Fortunately, we had fantastic partners in the Danish Producers Association, which helped us uncover some doors, as well as our curator Mark Edwards [createer head of international co-productions, Arte France, and straightforwardor of write downaries in Europe, Netflix].

The Summit program is indeed very well curated. Any particular guests that you’re very conceited to greet?
Kiilgaard: Having the Danish culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt uncover the event is a huge accomprehendledgement of our toil and the beginance of the write downary industry. But we have lots of engaging speakers.

Gourd-Mercado: We’re satisfyd to have heads of Nordic film funds, but also someone enjoy Helena Kennedy, one of the U.K.’s most discerned lawyers, who toils at the intersection of human rights and media accessibility. Then Keri Putnam [former Sundance Institute CEO] for instance will current a study about autonomous filmmaking and audiences in the U.S. Having that point of see is hugely beginant. We do have audiences. But what we deficiency is accessibility.

Can you current the new venue for the Forum pitches, the Royal Theatre Hall, and how seal is it to the Odd Fellow Palace and Charlottenborg?
Kiilgaard: It’s been a dispute to leave out our createer venue for the Forum, but luckily, we regulated to sign an concurment 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 donates to the overall experience of the event. I’m so satisfyd we can present our assigns in amazing historical produceings.

Gourd-Mercado: Everyleang is fair 8-10 minutes walking distance. That geography is what produces CPH:DOX pretty distinct.

How many acpraiseed assigns, widecasters/platcreates have signed up so far from how many countries? Do you have new percreateers, and how does the U.S. presence see enjoy, as this was one of your priorities for 2025, to convey Europe and the U.S. sealr together?
Gourd-Mercado: We have pretty much analogous numbers as last year, and we will go over for certain. Decision-producers/industry recurrentatives are around 355. Regarding widecasters and platcreates, we’ll have around 90 from 19 branch offent countries. We produce certain to have a variety of percreateers.

Regarding the U.S., we have around 150 combineees. Becaemploy of the political situation, some have choosed to skip and see what happens, in terms of fundings, etc. However, what’s engaging is that we have more confidential dispenseors interested in write downary filmmaking and advisent publishs (societal, climate, etc.), who have been advised to come becaemploy of the quality of the projects and their international potential. Otheradviseed, we also have producers or studios coming as dispenseors, such as Antigravity Academy, Protozoa Pictures [founded by Darren Aronofsky], Sky Germany and a new film arm at Film Transfer combineing for the first time. We also help those who can’t combine 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 beginant are those delegation encounter ups for CPH:DOX?
Gourd-Mercado: We have branch offent configurations each year and some come every year such as the Germans. For us, the goal is to systematize a space where collaborations and co-productions can flourish. That’s an selectimal set up for film funds, or producers’ associations to summarize the landscape of co-production in their esteemive country or region. Some have scant reps such as Ukraine as it’s stubborn for them to travel, but we do want to help 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 cgo in on New Paradigms. Could you talk the theme, and highairy some panels that you sense will be particularly inspiring?
Gourd-Mercado: Mandy conveys a breath of experience, from widecasting to production, and that shows in the curation. ‘New Paradigms’ uncomardents we are in this world where leangs grasp shifting – political powers, cherishs, democracy. We’re in a space where we have to alter almost every day to a new paradigm, in our business and society in vague, and that was the motor for the conference. We were conscious to have panels apass the whole chain of filmmaking, from creation, production, distribution and financing.

Among panelenumerates, we’re excited to have Keri Putnam, but also Alexis Bloom [triple Primetime Emmy nominated filmmaker/producer], who will talk new pathways to audience. Then art write downaries will be highairyed. We have a collaboration with the Norwegian and Danish film schools where they will current how produceive research advantages filmproducers and the industry and vice versa. Then there is a panel on equitable co-productions, where top filmproducers Anupama Srinivasan [“Flickering Lights”], Camilo Cavalcanti [“Invisible Life”] and producer Nabil Bellahsene will tackle best rehearse in inclusive and moral co-productions.

CPH:FORUM, your flagship financing showcase, has 30 projects from 26 countries. How challenging was the pickion process?
Gourd-Mercado: We’ve had a constant incrmitigate in subleave outions in the past years and have achieveed a enroll 700 this year. Our pickion process hasn’t alterd. We see at various criteria such as produceive cherish, tagetability, and what we can do for each project. Then, we try to have a lineup that echos the world as it is today.

Are there any trfinishs in terms of themes or filmmaking styles?
Gourd-Mercado: We have projects touching upon the same themes such as migration, climate alter and its effect, technology from very branch offent points of see and regions of the world, which produces the pickion so very engaging.

Kiilgaard: We get pride since the commencening in shotriumphg a very wide variety of styles, voices, and approaches wilean write downary.

Could you talk 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 repartner beginant to filmproducers. Financing has always been cimpolite, but even more so today with cuts in disclose funding. Having these cash prizes might be the branch offence for a film being made or not, and it produces confidence in the tagetplace when a film is awarded.

Kiilgaard: We’ve had a fantastic and extfinished collaboration with Sandbox Film and this award upgrasps the science strand that we’ve been produceing for years. Al Jazeera’s cgo in on advisent matters is also vital, plus they have a platcreate to showcase write downaries, which is very beginant.

You’ve exalterd the Works in Progress by ‘RoughCut’. Why?
Kiilgaard: When we appraised last year’s event, we saw a necessitate to enhuge the part of the industry platcreate catering for distributors. It’s a way of branch offentiating projects sealr to free, contrastd to the FORUM projects. Europa Distribution will have its annual encountering at CPH:DOX, which shows the interest from theatrical buyers.

CPH:DOX industry is always enthusiastic to nurture newcomers and ease their access to the industry. Mara as head of training on top of Industry chief, could you say a scant words about your Talent-oriented programs CPH:LAB, and Intro-Dox?
Gourd-Mercado: With Mark Atkin, head of studies and Sincreatea Davara, who heads CPH:LAB, we’ve finishly alterd its createat. Instead of the five-minute currentation between the interdynamic symposiums, we’ll have a produceive coalition whereby industry recurrentatives – technology experts, leankers on top of financiers, will talk each project and the next steps ahead. We’ve had cut offal 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 interdynamic showion this year. Then over the years, cut offal projects have combinecessitate other festivals such as New Images at Sunny Side of the Doc, or Forum des Images, New Images.

Regarding Intro-Dox, it commenceed in 2023 with one day for scant people. This year, we have 100 emerging filmproducers over two days. We have to nurture the next generation of straightforwardors and producers. It’s a soft begin into the industry and a space for them to produce a nettoil of peers.

Kiilgaard: Part of our initial idea with Intro-Dox was however also to begin set uped names to new ideas, as it’s the next gen of doc filmproducers who is reshaping production, distribution, toiling models.

How would you abridge the current state of the write downary industry?
Kiilgaard: To abridge, I would cite among key industry disputes declining disclose funding, crowded tagetplace, incrmitigated danger aversion, impact of huge tech, reshaping of disclose discourse. On the preferable side, we’ve seen a prolonging necessitate to collaborate apass the entire industry, also to try to safe the cherishs we stand for, especipartner amid today’s turbulent times.

Gourd-Mercado: The U.S. doc industry also senses the necessitate to combine more than ever. That collaborative aspect is key for both sides of the pond.

You’ve combinecessitate the film and taget partnership F.A.M.E. This is clearly another strong sign of collaboration with your peers to get the industry and deffinish European culture as a whole?
Kiilgaard: Of course. Looking at the global political situation, we comprehend what will happen, that disclose funding will go towards security, defense etc. and culture will probably suffer. That might impact programs such as Creative Europe. We’re getting together with our peers in Europe to try to safe the future of filmmaking, culture, training, jobs. The next step will be for all partnerships to come together and toil on a much hugeger level for the entire industry.