'Whispers in May' Courtesy of Muyi Film/Tail Bite Tail Films The 23rd edition of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, is wrapping up on Sunday, but the winners of the fest awards were unveiled and celebrated in the Danish capital on Friday.
The international competition lineup included a total of 74 films, hand-picked from thousands of submissions from around the world, including 53 world premieres, 17 international premieres, and four European debuts.
The DOX:Award, the festival’s top prize, went to Dongnan Chen’s Whispers in May, which blends doc and improv elements to tell the story of three girls in China, one of whom has just had her first menstruation, signaling the transition from girlhood to womanhood.
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The jury on Friday also awarded a special mention to Nolwenn Hervé’s The Cord, the portrait of a maternity warrior in Venezuela.
And the new FIPRESCI Award in the main competition program went to Nathan Grossman’s Amazomania, a reexamination of a decades-old film about the first contact made with the Korubo tribe in Brazil and the white man’s gaze.
Meanwhile, Emma Wall and Betsy Hershe’s Just Look Up won the F:ACT Award. The doc is a portrait of young climate activist Michael Greenberg, the founder and leader of the Climate Defiance movement.
In the same section, Stephen Maing and Eric Daniel Metzgar’s The Great Experiment received a special mention. The film is described this way: “A cinematic time capsule capturing a volatile era in American history and offering an intimate portrait of democracy in crisis.”
Meanwhile, the jury picked Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen’s The Secret Reading Club of Kabul as the winner of the festival’s NORDIC:DOX competition. The film follows young Afghan women, inspired by Anne Frank, defying the Taliban.
Also in the NORDIC:DOX competition, Homesick (Hjemsøgt), the second feature documentary from director Taekyung Tanja Inwol (A Colombian Family), received a special mention. It explores the concepts of family and belonging through the eyes of the filmmaker, who is a South Korean adoptee who grew up in Denmark.
CPH:DOX will also hand out a prize of €10,000 ($11,565) for its Audience Award, sponsored by the Danish public service broadcaster DR. The winner will be unveiled on March 26.
Check out the full CPH:DOX awards winners, including in the INTER:ACTIVE program of immersive projects, below.
DOX:AWARD Winner: ‘WHISPERS IN MAY’ by Dongnan Chen Hong Kong, Netherlands, South Korea & Sweden / 2026 / World Premiere Special Mention: ‘THE CORD’ by Nolwenn Hervé France / 2026 / World Premiere Sponsored by Politiken Fonden with a prize of €10,000 ($11,565), the DOX:AWARD is the festival’s flagship competition, celebrating artistic excellence.
Jury statement: “Congratulations to Nolwenn Herve for her unforgettable debut, The Cord. That said, we had to choose one film as this year’s CPH:DOX Award winner. Telling mythical stories about hidden worlds is a gift. Giving breadth and depth to quotidian moments is a talent. Weaving cinematic forms while allowing reality to resonate is captivating. Ultimately, we were charmed by a young girl’s journey. Walking over the edge of the last days of childhood, this director has succeeded in sharing a modern-day fairytale that heeds monsters and factories, alike. Congratulations to Dongnan Chen for her Whispers in May.” FIPRESCI AWARD Winner: ‘AMAZOMANIA’ by Nathan Grossman Sweden, Denmark & France / 2026 / World Premiere Introduced in 2026, the FIPRESCI Award is presented by the International Federation of Film Critics. The 12 films in the DOX:AWARD Competition were nominated for this new mark of distinction.
Jury statement: “We would like to recognize a film that brings a contemporary and thought-provoking perspective on an intrusive culture clash. It is a story of the loss of innocence, the complex colonial legacy of the human gaze, and the devastating impact of capitalism. In times inundated with images, the film shows the potential of revisiting, reexamining and hopefully, relearning. We are proud to present the FIPRESCI award to Nathan Grossman’s Amazomania.” F:ACT AWARD Winner: ‘JUST LOOK UP’ by Emma Wall & Betsy Hershey United States & Denmark / 2026 / World Premiere Special Mention: ‘THE GREAT EXPERIMENT’ by Stephen Maing & Eric Daniel Metzgar United States & Mexico / 2026 / International Premiere Supported by International Media Support (IMS) and the Danish Union of Journalists with a prize of €5,000 ($5,782), the F:ACT Competition bridges filmmaking and investigative journalism.
Jury statement on the winner: “A film about a subject that couldn’t be more urgent and important, but is often overlooked. It manages to be funny, uplifting and even hopeful. We are honored to give the award to the film for its well-crafted, beautifully observed story about a group of young people trying to save the world from self-inflicted destruction.”
Jury statement on the special mention: “‘A special mention in the F:ACT Award goes to a remarkable artistic work capturing a historic turning point in the political landscape, affecting all of us. With cinematic precision and emotional depth, the film lays bare the profound divides within American society, becoming an essential witness – not only of this moment, but of the future it will inevitably shape.” NEXT:WAVE AWARD Winner: ‘DREAM OF ANOTHER SUMMER’ by Irene Bartholomé Spain & Lebanon / 2026 / World Premiere Special Mention: ‘THIS IS NOT A FRENCH FILM’ by Tom Adjibi Belgium & France / 2026 / World Premiere The NEXT:WAVE Award spotlights emerging filmmakers and new cinematic currents, offering a prize of €5,000 ($5,782).
Jury statement on the winner: “The Next:Wave Award goes to a film that, through a rigorous formal approach and a conscious gaze, immerses us in a suspended space where the scars of the past, the awareness of the present, and the dreams of the future brush against one another. The city of Beirut is the epicenter of this meditative journey, but the film transcends the local and becomes an existential reflection on the fragility of the human condition.”
Jury statement on the special mention: “We would like to give a special mention to a film that kept surprising us from beginning to end with its playful form and charming narrative, unfolding in the intersection of fiction and documentary. This film highlights the complexity of identity and representation in a completely disarming and humorous manner, as a courageously clumsy filmmaker gathers a collective of friends and colleagues in an effort to confront their experience of racialization within the Belgian film industry.” NORDIC:DOX AWARD Winner: ‘THE SECRET READING CLUB OF KABUL’ by Shakiba Adil & Elina Hirvonen Finland & Norway / 2026 / World Premiere Special Mention: ‘HOMESICK’ by Taekyung Tanja In Wol Sørensen Denmark, South Korea & Finland / 2026 / World Premiere The NORDIC:DOX Award honors standout documentaries from the Nordic region and includes a €5,000 prize ($5,782).
Jury statement on the winner: “Through great precision and resilience, the directors create an echo chamber where the voices of silenced children can circulate freely. This film exposes the brutal dismantling of women’s rights under an authoritarian regime. In doing so, it affirms the power of documentary cinema to make injustice visible and the voice of the oppressed heard. We are grateful for this piercing call coming from Afghan homes turned prisons. We hear you. You are not forgotten.” HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD Winner: ‘THE PHANTOM PAIN OF ROJAVA’ by Maryam Ebrahimi Sweden & Norway / 2026 / World Premiere Special Mention: ‘AMERICAN DOCTOR’ by Poh Si Teng United States, Palestine, Malaysia & Denmark / 2026 / International Premiere Sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights with a prize of €5,000 ($5,782), the HUMAN:RIGHTS Competition highlights stories in defence of human rights.
Jury statement on the winner: “The winner in the human rights competition is a film that lyrically portrays the bond that exists between a group of brave, predominantly women fighters who find ways to see the beauty in the evolving companionship that grew from their struggle. And while their human rights continue to be threatened by new developments in modern warfare, the director achieves the perfect balance between their continued precariousness and their ongoing model of dignity and dedication to their cause. The filmmaker weaves together the current fights for not only the land, but also for the women who inhabit the land. So, in the spirit of the film – women, life, freedom and the award goes to Maryam Embrahimi for The Phantom Pain of Rojava.”
Jury statement on the special mention: “The filmmaker shows an urgent account of a human rights violation that is still unfolding in front of our eyes. With its attention to the systematic killing of medical professionals and children in Gaza and its depiction of the lasting effects on those who work to ease the suffering of the victims.” NEW:VISION AWARD Winner: ‘COMPACT DISC’ by Rico Wong Hong Kong & United Kingdom / 2026 / World Premiere Special Mention: ‘LOCAL SENSATIONS’ by Tulapop Saenjaroen Thailand / 2026 / European Premiere The NEW:VISION Award celebrates artists’ films and boundary-pushing cinematic experiments with a €5,000 ($5,782) prize.
Jury statement on the winner: The film is a deeply moving, intimate portrayal of a group of young friends who come together to revisit their involvement in the recent protests. The film utilizes a range of low-fi technologies to collectively reassemble their fragmented memories. Interrogation footage of their imprisonment is played from a compact disc on their laptop and refilmed by a handheld camera; the closeup camera lingers on their bodies – retelling the skin as a map with its own markings. Shot in close, dark spaces, the film turns its blurry images back on its subjects: mirroring, animating, layering – finding in the act of recollection not just a record of what was endured but a way of carrying it forward together. Among the film’s many qualities are its experimental use of low-tech pixelated media and genuine storytelling that allow for a range of emotions to surface without glossing over or drawing cathartic closure to an all too recent event and its present resonances.”
Jury statement on the special mention: “‘A genuinely surprising and beautifully crafted cinematic essay on how to avoid becoming a shrine. Shot on black-and-white 16mm and mixed together with digital footage and animation, the film reimagines the monument as something fluid and unfixed. An architectural film without buildings, it delves into and interconnects diverse poetic instances of Thai society while posing questions like: ‘What if a monument could question history rather than consecrate it?'” INTER:ACTIVE EXHIBITION AWARD Winner: ‘INSIDE: THE CHILDHOOD OF AN ARTIST’ by Sacha Wares United Kingdom / 2026 / Multisensory VR Experience / International Premiere Special Mention: ‘DARK ROOMS’ by Mads Damsbo & Laurits Flensted-Jensen Denmark, Germany & Taiwan / 2026 / Immersive VR Experience / Danish Premiere CPH:DOX awards a 10,000 DKK ($1,550) cash prize to the top-selected INTER:ACTIVE work.
Jury statement on the winner: “The jury finds Inside: The Childhood of an Artist to be a powerful work that demonstrates how VR can evoke a deeply human experience – leaving the viewer with a lingering sense of reflection long after the headset is removed. The simplicity of its imagery – almost naïve in tone – echoes the fragility of childhood memory, while gradually allowing an idyllic atmosphere to take on subtle undertones of unease. What begins as a gentle recollection evolves into a narrative shaped by loss and possible betrayal. As spectators, we are first placed in a chair. A warm membrane carrying subtle scents is wrapped around our neck like a comforting cloth before the VR headset and headphones are gently applied. Only then does the full experience begin. Inside: The Childhood of an Artist is an 18-minute immersive work that unfolds over the course of a single night, inviting the audience to inhabit a child’s perspective during a moment when the adult world suddenly becomes unstable. Through scent, sound, and a carefully restrained visual language, the work constructs a sensory environment that feels both intimate and authentic. In its final gesture, the experience moves beyond the VR environment to incorporate an artwork created by Judith Scott. This shift grounds the immersive experience in a tangible reality, bringing together memory, artistic expression, and documentary sensibility. Sacha Wares worked with Joyce Scott, the sister of Judith Scott. Judith was abruptly and suddenly taken away from home, taken away to an institution because she was deaf and had Down Syndrome. 35 years later, Joyce reconnects with Judith, helping her develop a vibrant artist career at the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California. Judith became a world-renowned artist after that. The VR experience is sensory, crafted and poetic, letting us experience a fragile memory from the day Judith was taken away.”
Jury statement on the special mention: “Dark Rooms invites audiences into an exploration of sexual awakening through real stories, where boundaries are challenged and taboos brought into the open. With courage and precision, the work confronts shame and prejudice, opening a space for reflection on desire, identity, and personal liberation. The result is a boundary-pushing and confrontational experience that expands both the possibilities of VR and our understanding of how intimate stories can be shared and experienced. With Dark Rooms, a new standard is set for what VR can achieve as an artistic and narrative medium. The work is both technically impressive and artistically ambitious in the way it uses virtual space to create a deeply intimate experience breaking boundaries in a gentle and respectful way.”
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