Still from the film A Song Without Home. Photo: Rati Tsiteladze

IMS at CPH:DOX 2026

IMS works with documentary films as a tool for change. Many of the films we have supported are being screened at this year’s CPH:DOX festival 11-22 March.

This year, CPH:DOX and IMS are proudly presenting films, filmmakers and film stakeholders from Palestine, Ukraine, Syria, Georgia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco and Libya. IMS is sponsoring and presenting the CPH:DOX F:ACT AWARD 2026 and throughout the festival, we are hosting several industry events to support and promote filmmakers from majority world countries.

See the full CPH:DOX 2026 programme here: CPH:DOX (cphdox.dk)

FILM SCREENINGS 

MOROCCO

OUT OF SCHOOL
Hind Bensari / Morocco and Denmark / 2026 / World Premiere / 70 min
In a remote village high up in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a brother and sister are forced out of education before their childhood is over.

14 March, 16:30, Empire Bio + Q&A with director Hind Bensari

19 March, 14.00, Gloria Biograf

UKRAINE

TRACES
Alisa Kovalenko / Ukraine and Poland / 2026 / 85 min
Ukrainian women who have survived sexual violence during Russia’s war refuse to remain silent. A brutally honest testimony from the female victims of war. (The director Alisa Kovalenko is part of the CHANGE alumni.)

16 March, 18.30, Gloria Biograf

18 March, 19.15, Kunsthal Charlottenborg

20 March, 17.00, Dagmar Teatret

SILENT FLOOD
Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk / Ukraine and Germany / 2025 / 90 min
A festival hit that uses dazzling, hypnotic images to tell the story of a deeply religious and pacifist community whose way of life is threatened by the Russian invasion.

12 March, 17.00, Gloria Biograf

14 March, 10.00, Cinemateket

19 March, 17.00, Dagmar Teatret

AFGHANISTAN / IRAN

A FOX UNDER A PINK MOON
Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya / Iran, Türkiye and Greece / 2025 / 76 min
Over five years, young Soraya documents her repeated attempts to flee Iran for Europe with her mobile phone.

13 March, 19:00, Kunsthal Charlottenborg + talk
Meet the films directors Mehrdad Oskouie and Soraya Akhalaghi in conversation with Mette Knudsen, Denmark’s Ambassador to Afghanistan. They will discuss what it means to be a woman in Afghanistan, talk about fleeing your country, and how storytelling and art can be used as a form of resistance. The conversation will be moderated by Wahida Faizi, Gender Coordinator at IMS.
Language: English

16 March, 16:30, Falkoner Biograf

19 March 21.45, Empire Bio

21 March, 18.00, Kunsthal Charlottenborg + event
Expressing Yourself Inside and Outside of Afghanistan. Using art and storytelling as tools, DFUNK’s Lida Afghan and human rights advocate Manilla Ghafuri invite the audience to share in experiences from Afghanistan.

LIBYA

MY FATHER AND QADDAFI
Jihan / Libya and United States / 2025 / 88 min
A Libyan diplomat disappears under mysterious circumstances after breaking with Gaddafi. Decades later, his daughter seeks the truth about her father’s disappearance and a brutal regime.

11 March, 17.00, Empire Bio

15 March, 16.15, Park Bio

SYRIA

LITTLE SINNER
Daro Hansen and Thomas Papapetros / Denmark / 2026 / World Premiere / 90 min
20 years of deeply personal recordings compiled into a raw and unfiltered journey from Damascus to Denmark, depicting a Syrian woman’s relentless struggle against violence, betrayal, and her own past.

15 March, 19.00, Grand Teatret + Q&A with the directors

18 March, 19.15, Cinemateket + Q&A with the directors

21 March, 14.15, Cinemateket

22 March, 19.00, Empire Bio

PALESTINE

AMERICAN DOCTOR
Poh Si Teng / United States, Palestine, Malaysia and Denmark / 2026 / International Premiere / 90 min
When three American doctors – Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian – enter Gaza to save lives, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.

12 March, 19.00, Empire Bio + event
Meet director Poh Si Teng and the three doctors at the center of the film ‘American Doctor’, which follows their struggle to save lives at a hospital in Gaza – and to raise awareness among the American public about the war crimes they have witnessed.

15 March, 17.00, Big Bio Nordhavn

16 March, 10.15, Cinemateket

17 March, 17.00, PRESSEN, Politikens Hus + event
Meet senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, Nadia Hardmann, in conversation with doctors that have been stationed in Gaza, in a conversation about bearing witness to a humanitarian crises.
Language: English

19 March, 16.45, Cinemateket

PALESTINIAN UNWANTED
Omar Shargawi / Denmark and Jordan / 2026 / World Premiere / 73 min
During the bombardments of Gaza, a Danish-Palestinian filmmaker tries to raise awareness among the Danish public while struggling to keep himself together. A deeply personal film with a mission.

14 March, 16.30, Grand Teatret + Q&A with director Omar Shargawi

15 March, 14.00, Empire Bio + Q&A with director Omar Shargawi

20 March, 19.00, Falkoner Biograf

HASSAN
Muhammad Alshareef / Palestine, France and Qatar / 2025 / 30 min
A 17-year-old Palestinian is trapped by need amid Gaza’s starvation war. His dangerous attempt to fetch a sack of flour ends with a lone fifteen-month journey from north to south Gaza. The film is screen together with three other short films from Palestine.

11 March, 20.00, Kunsthal Charlottenborg

14 March, 17.15, Kunsthal Charlottenborg

GEORGIA

A SONG WITHOUT HOME
Rati Tsiteladze / Georgia and United States / 2026 / World Premiere / 75 min
After 11 years locked up in her family home, Adelina flees from a Georgian village to Vienna in the hope of finding the freedom to be herself. But even in exile, the chains of the past prove difficult to break free from. The director Rati Tsiteladze is part of the CHANGE alumni.

14 March, 19.00, Empire Bio

16 March, 12.30, Cinemateket

17 March, 12.00, Grand Teatret

19 March, 17.00, Cinemateket

IRAQ

BURNING VOICE
Anna Bruun Nørager / Denmark and Iraq / 2026 / World Premiere / 84 min
Alongside her studies, 35-year-old Tamara Amer is fighting a fierce battle against negative social control, a culture of silence, and the oppression of women in Iraq where she grew up.

13 March, 19.30, DR Koncerthuset + concert with Luna Ersahin (AySay!)

17 March, 19.30, Empire Bio + talk
After the screening of Burning Voice we invite a panel on stage to talk about feminism and self-defense.
Language: Danish

20 March, 19.00, Empire Bio

AFGHANISTAN

THE SECRET READING CLUB OF KABUL
Shakiba Adil & Elina Hirvonen / Finland and Norge / 2026 / Verdenspremiere / 95 min
I det Taliban-kontrollerede Afghanistan, hvor kvinder nægtes retten til at studere, arbejde og tale frit, danner en gruppe unge kvinder en hemmelig læsekreds med livet som indsats.

16 March, 19.00, Dagmar Teatret

19 March, 14.30, Cinemateket

21 March, 15.30, Kunsthal Charlottenborg

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 nominated films for the F:ACT AWARD 2026 are:  

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. The following projects participating in CPH:FORUM are supported by IMS:

CHANGE 

CHANGE is our professional training course for documentary filmmakers initiated and funded by IMS and made in collaboration with CPH:DOX, EAVE, and the National Film School of Denmark. 

The training course consists of three week-long workshops culminating at CPH:DOX where the filmmakers present their projects at the industry section of CPH:DOX: the CPH:FORUM which is an international market of TV-stations, distributers, sales agencies, co-producers, and funders. 

Through CHANGE, launched by IMS in Kyiv in 2021, 40 producers and projects have engaged in structured development tracks designed to build sustainable careers and cross-border collaboration. The programme supports emerging audiovisual entrepreneurs in navigating European and international markets — from packaging and financing to co-production and audience strategy.

Projects such as The Kartli Kingdom (IDFA Award for Best Directing and Best First Feature) and 9-Month Contract (premiered at CPH:DOX) illustrate the trajectory from development to international premiere and distribution. The first CHANGE group presented their films in March 2022 – and this year we are with group number five.

The selected projects for CHANGE 2026 are:

INTERNATIONAL DELEGATIONS

CPH:DOX welcomes delegations of producers from all around the world enriching our industry programme and benefitting from our specially curated networking events and tailored mentorship programmes. The following visiting delegations are supported by IMS:

ARMDOC ARMENIAN DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION (ARMENIA)
ArmDoc is dedicated to fostering a vibrant and inclusive documentary film landscape in Armenia. It aims to promote the production and dissemination of documentary cinema both in Armenia and on international platforms. 

Leaders:

  • Arevik Avanesyan, ArmDoc Armenian Documentary Association
  • Tamara Stepanyan, Documentary Guild of Armenia

Participants:

  • Sona Margaryan, Motif Films
  • Karina Simonyan, Edgar Baghdasaryan Film Production
  • Lilit Movsisyan, Motif Films
  • Mery Aghakhanyan, Edgar Baghdasaryan Film Production
  • Naira Sargsyan, Aremak
  • Seg Kirakossian, Imagicus Production

 

PALESTINE FILM INSITUTE (PALESTINE) 
The Palestine Film Institute (PFI) is a voluntary and independent Palestinian non-profit organisation with the mission of developing, promoting, and preserving Palestine’s cinema. The PFI delegation to CPH:DOX highlights the significance of supporting Palestinian cinema globally. Featuring four documentaries in development, offering filmmakers/producers a unique chance to meet the film industry.

Leader:

  • Mohamed Jabaly, Palestine Film Institute

Participants:

  • Tanya Marar, Qadar Films
  • Ashtar Muallem, Hutong Production and Fresco Films
  • Dalia AlKury, Integral
  • Janay Boulos, Habak Films
  • Kinda Kurdi, K2 Visual Media
  • Ola Kleiven Hunnes, Integral film

 

STORIES FILM (SYRIA)
STORIES FILM is a cultural institution, based in Damascus and licensed as a private film production company in 2010. In addition to the activities it conducts (documentary workshops, Lab and screenings) it produces independent films and provides support to local filmmakers. At CPH:DOX, Nawras and Sasha from STORIES FILM are interested in making new connections and potential collaborations for documentary training and production in Syria.

Leaders:

  • Nawras AlHanbali, Stories Film
  • Sasha Ayoub, Stories Film 

Why IMS works with documentary film

Across disinformation and propaganda, the battle of the narrative remains decisive. In a media landscape shaped by platform logic and competing formats, factual content alone does not automatically secure attention. Stories must travel.

Documentary holds a particular position in this environment. It combines authorship with evidence and engages complexity through lived experience. It strengthens not only audience access, but audience appeal — particularly among younger audiences seeking relevance, identification and call to action.

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

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)

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