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Animality, the latest screen work from Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, is among the titles that will world premiere at this year’s Cph:dox in Copenhagen.

The festival, which runs March 19-30, released its 2025 competition lineups this morning. Across its six categories, the festival will feature 94 world premieres. The theme of this year’s festival is “human rights and the rules-based international order.”

World premieres include films about Israel and Palestine, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rise of the far-right across Europe, identity politics, art, and activism. High-profile visitors set for the festival include Ai Weiwei, Ukrainian feminist activist Inna Shevchenko, investigative journalist and whistleblower Christo Grozev, musician Warren Ellis, comedian Jerrod Carmichael, and Adam Kinzinger.

Main competition titles include Alisa Kovalenko’s My Dear Theo, Thomas Balmés’ À demain sur la Lune, Artur Franck’s The Helsinki Effect, and this year’s opening film Facing War by Tommy Gulliksen.

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival has selected 71 films for its competition sections, including 56 world premieres, 12 international premieres and three European premieres.

World premieres for the festival’s 22nd edition include Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko’s My Dear Theo. Few details have been revealed for the film yet; Theo is the name of Kovalenko’s son. The film will be produced by Kasia Kuczynska of Poland’s Haka Films, with Ukrainian production company Moonman Productions, the company behind recent festival titles Songs Of Slow Burning Earth and A House Made Of Splinters.

Scroll down for the full list of competition titles...

Documentary festival Cph:dox has unveiled the titles in its competition sections, which include 71 films. There are 56 world premieres, 12 international premieres, and three European premieres. The festival runs March 19-30.

Niklas Engstrøm, artistic director of Cph:dox, said: “The times we live in are increasingly marked by conflict, chaos, and cynicism, leaving little room for the visionary or the poetic. Against that backdrop, we are proud to present a competition program that not only reflects the world but also refracts its light like a prism. Whether set in Ukraine, Mozambique, America, or China, the nominated films in this year’s program stand as a defense of the role of poetry and art in the world.”

Mads K. Mikkelsen, head of program of Cph:dox, said the competition lineup “truly represents documentary as an art form made for the cinema.” He added: “Cph:dox is about celebrating documentaries and the people who make them, and...