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Presented in its world premiere at Cph:Dox in the Dox:award section, and subsequently at a number of other festivals including Thessaloniki, “Immortals” highlights the events surrounding the October 2019 Protest Movement in Iraq, through the eyes of two activists, Milo and Khalil.

The film is divided into three chapters. The first, titled “The Hidden Battles,” presents Milo’s life. In order to walk the streets of Baghdad without being seen, she dresses in her brother’s clothes. The camera follows her through the streets as she poses as a man, but the focus gradually shifts to the visits she pays to her friends. These meetings include a series of intimate and often shocking discussions. One of the most powerful moments comes during a conversation with a girlfriend who recounts her years-long struggle to escape a violent father, even pursuing legal action. Her story, and the efforts of her uncles to...

Revolutions bring hope for a better life and strength in community. “Immortals,” a documentary about young Iraqi activists, deals with the aftermath of 2019’s October Protest Movement. What happens when the promise of a better life has been hijacked by insidious political forces? An insightful look into the social and political fabric of modern Iraq, Maja Tschumi’s film shows the quiet desperation of losing hope and having raging emotions that cannot be outwardly expressed. It also chronicles the plight of a generation who shares their dreams and frustrations with other people around the world suffering from similar oppressions.

Although “Immortals” captures the specificity, language and culture of Iraq, the aspirations of the activists it follows mirror those of others in Sudan or Iran, to name just two other places where recently youth have shown that they demand change. The film follows Milo, a feminist dealing with a family of strict constrictive rules,...

Paris-based outfit Cat&Docs has acquired world sales for “Immortals,” the sophomore feature film by Swiss director Maja Tschumi (“Rotzloch”). The film will compete in the main competition at leading European documentary festival Cph:dox, and will also screen at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in the Open Horizon section.

Catherine Le Clef, president and CEO of Cat&Docs, said the “striking film” had “the potential of becoming a cult film of its genre.”

It tells the story of Milo, a feminist who sneaks out of the house dressed as a man so she can take part in the October 2019 protest movement in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, and Khalili, a young filmmaker who uses his camera as a weapon to document the bloody crackdown on the youth demonstrations.

The film offers a rare cinematic glimpse into life for Iraq’s youth, in a country where more than half the population is under the age...

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) has unveiled the line-ups for its five competitive sections for its 2024 edition. All films in the main Dox:Award competition are world premieres for the second successive year.

Scroll down for the full list of competition titles

Titles in that section include Alessandra Celesia’s The Flats, a France-uk-Ireland-Belgium co-production about Belfast youngsters accessing their memories of the Troubles. Belfast-based Italian filmmaker Celesia has previously made documentaries including 2017’s Anatomy Of A Miracle, which played at Locarno.

The 12-strong Dox:Award competition also includes Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter’s UK title Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other,...

Edition runs April 23-27.

Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel has unveiled the industry projects to be pitched and presented at its 2023 edition, taking place April 23-27.

This year’s selection includes Latvian filmmaker Laila Pakalnina whose new project Cat On My Mind will participate in VdR-Pitching. Pakalnina’s Ausma (2015) and In The Mirror (2020) played in competition at the Blak Nights Tallinn International Film festival while her shorts have screened at Berlin and Cannes.

Also participating in VdR-Pitching is Italy-us filmmaker Mo Scarpelli with her new project Faith about two young girls who live together in an abandoned classroom. Her...

“Becoming an Astronaut,” an ambitious documentary that will focus on four new astronauts who will be announced by the European Space Agency (Esa) this November, has won the Focal Audience & Market Strategies pitching event at the Zurich Film Festival.

Organized by Focal, the Lausanne-based foundation for film and audiovisual media training, Audience & Market Strategies is a three-part training program that helps producers promote their projects at an early stage. This year’s event showcased eight Swiss projects in various states of development.

The program culminated with the pitching event, in which the producers presented their projects to sales company representatives, industry experts and an international jury comprising Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, Netflix’s Lars Wiebe, Olivier Tournaud of Cinephil, Sven Wälti, head of film at Swiss pubcaster Srg Ssr, and Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose.

Produced by Franziska Sonder of Ensemble Film and set to be directed by Roman Hodel,...