The 21st edition of CPH:DOX took place from Wednesday, March 13 to Sunday, March 24 in Copenhagen, Denmark. We are proud to see that 3 supported films and 13 supported filmmakers were part of the lineup and that many of our supported filmmakers also participated in the CPH:CONFERENCE and CPH: FORUM. Some of our team was also there to participate in person to support our filmmakers. See below for more details.

• 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story’s Union | International Premiere | F:act Award & Nine to Five sections | dirs. Brett Story, Stephen Maing | prods. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone

• 2019 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Lana Wilson’s  Look Into My Eyes | International Premiere | Special Premieres & Stranger Than Fiction sections | dir. Lana Wilson | prod. Kyle Martin

• 2022 Critical Issues Fund Grantee Intercepted | Urgent Matters & Battlefields sections | dir. Oksana Karpovych | prods. Rocío B. Fuentes, Giacomo Nudi

From the AlumNest

• And So It Begins
  dir. & prod. Ramona Diaz
  
  
• Bottlemen 
  dir. & prod. Nemanja Vojinovic
  prod. Marija Stojnic 
  
  
• La Base | International Premiere
  dir. Vadim Dumesh
  prod. Quentin Laurent
   
  
• Night of Nights | World Premiere
  dir. Truman
  prod. Violet Feng
  
  
• Marching in the Dark | World Premiere
  dir. Kinshuk Surjan
  prods. Evelien De Graef, Hanne Phlypo, Digna Sinke, Arya Rothe
  
  
• Phantoms of the Sierra Madre | World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Håvard Bustnes
  prod. Christian Aune Falch, Bird Runningwater
  
  
• Power | International Premiere
  dir. & prod. Yance Ford
  prods. Netsanet Negussie, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney
  
  
• Silent Trees | World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Agnieszka Zwiefka
  prods. Heino Deckert, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Zofia Kujawska
  
  
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story | European Premiere
  dirs. Peter Ettedgui & Ian Bonhôte
  prods. Lizzie Gillett, Ian Bonhôte, Robert Ford
  
  
• The Black Garden | World Premiere
  dir. Alexis Pazoumian
  prod. Clara Vuillermoz
  
  
• The Bones | World Premiere
  dir. Jeremy Xido
  prod. Ina Fichman
  
  
• The Stimming Pool | World Premiere
  dirs. The Neurocultures Collective, Benjamin Brown, Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown-Ahern, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker, Steven Eastwood
  prod. Chloe White, Steven Eastwood
  
  
• Your Fat Friend
  dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay
  prod. Suzanne Alizart

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 nonfiction, fiction, visual art, journalism, and science. Six films from our community of filmmakers were presented.

2023 Research & Development Grant recipient Cinderella Unbound, UK/RO
dir. & prod Ilinca Calugareanu | prod. Anamaria Antoci

Freedom (WT), DK
dir. Camilla Nielsson | prod. Signe Byrge Sørensen

In Praise of Invasive Species, CA
dir. Mila Aung-Thwin | prod. Bob Moore

The Dirty Dream, IN
dirs. & prods. Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh

The Listeners, UK/US/FR
dir. & prod. Lindsey Dryden | prod. Samantha Steele

Victor, US
dir. Stephani Victor | prods. Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Matt Radecki

CPH: CONFERENCE

A 4-day industry event offering a range of inspiring talks with visionary thinkers, investigating current themes in documentary filmmaking, and creating an interactive and hands-on platform for exchange with other professionals of our documentary community. The theme this year was Re:Building Narratives – Accessibility And Equity In Documentary. Our filmmakers were well represented across the different activities from Tuesday, March 19 to Friday, March 22.

SOCIETY: STORIES OF OUR LIFETIMES

Tuesday, March 19

With Lizzie Gillett and Sigrid Dyekjær, producers of supported film Merkel, as keynote speakers for the Viva Independent Feature Docs section. Clara Vuillermoz, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Polaris was a speaker in the A Conflict of Interest or an Interest in Conflict? section. Lindsey Dryden, supported through the QUEER FUTURES program, also participated in the LGBTQIA panel. Curated by 2023 Development grant recipient Derren Lawford. 

FILM:MAKERS IN DIALOGUE

Wednesday, March 20

With 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story, Stephen Maing, producer of supported film Union, and Yance Ford, director of supported film Strong Island.

SCIENCE: WAYS OF KNOWING AND SEEING

Thursday, March 21

With 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Lisa Jackson as a keynote speaker in the Stars: Indigenous Ways of Knowing section, and Mila Aung-Thwin, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab participant Midwives, as a speaker in the Action: Legacies of science, cinematic justice section.

2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin is also considered an expert at the conference.

Meet our Team at CPH:DOX

Our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Program Director Kiyoko McCrae attended and took 1:1 meetings with filmmakers.

We are proud to congratulate a longtime collaborator and advisor in our labs, Carla Gutierrez, for the international premiere of her new documentary, Frida.

Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Participant Against The Tide | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur | prod. Koval Bhatia

• 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist Alis | Online Program | dirs. & prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck

• Project: Hatched 2023 Participant Bad Press | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler | prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett Baker, Tyler Graim

• Nest-supported film Blue ID | School Program | dirs. & prods. Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan

• 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Machtat | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. Sonia Ben Slama | prods. Tania el Khoury, Elise Hug, Cécile Lestrade

• 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Milisuthando | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Milisuthando Bongela | prod. Marion Isaacs
• Our Land, Our Freedom  | World Premiere | dirs. & prods. Meena Nanji, Zippy Kumundu |
  prod. Eliane Ferreira

• 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Margreth Olin | prod. Lena Faye-Lund Sandvik 

• 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tatiana Huezo’s The Echo | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo Sánchez | prods. Dalia Rocío Reyes Campos, Viviana Zuñiga

• 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee The Tuba Thieves | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests |  dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel | prods. Su Kim, Maya E. Rudolph

IDFA Forum

At the IDFA Forum, innovators, including filmmakers, creators, producers, and industry professionals, unite to present their pioneering creative feature documentaries and new media projects. Over its 30-year history, this event has evolved into a global hub for discussing co-production, co-financing, and distribution strategies. The IDFA Forum offers backing to film and XR production teams at various production stages across four presentation categories. We take pride in having Chicken & Egg Pictures Supported films featured in three out of these four categories.

• 2023 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Jeanie Finlay’s All Rivers Spill Their Secrets (to the Sea) | Pitch Project | In Production | dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay | prod. Charlie Phillips

• 2022 Critical Issue Fund Grantee Displaced (working title) | Rough Cut Project | In Production | dir. Olha Zhurba | prods. Darya Bassel, Anne Köhncke, Kerstin Übelacker

• 2022 Critical Issue Fund Grantee Red Zone | Producers Connection Project | Development | dir. Darya Bassel | prod. Iryna Tsilyk

• 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist There Was, There Was Not | Rough Cut Project | In Post-Production | dir. & prod. Emily Mkrtichian | prod. Brock Williams

From the AlumNest

In the program: 

• (this conversation is) Off the Record | World Premiere
  dirs. Nirit Peled, Anne Maike Mertens
  prod. Nienke Huitenga, Titus Nouwens

• Another Body | Dutch Premiere
  dirs. & prods. Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn
  prod. Elizabeth Woodward 

• The Burden | World Premiere
  dir. Elvis Ngaibino Sabin
  prod. Quentin Laurent, Makongo Films

• Facing Darkness | Dutch Premiere
  dir. Jean-Gabriel Périot 
  prod. Cécile Lestrade

• Four Holes | World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Daniela Muñoz Barroso
  prod. Boris Prieto

• Girl Away from Home | World Premiere 
  dirs. Alisa Kovalenko, Simon Lereng Wilmont
  prod. Maria Westergren, Knut Skoglund, Karl Emil Rikardsen

• We Will Not Fade Away | Dutch Premiere 
  dir. Alisa Kovalenko
  prods. Valery Kalmykov, Yana Kalmykova, Oleksiy Kobelev

• Last Train Home
  dir. Lixin Fan
  prod. Mila Aung-Thwin, Daniel Cross

• Nieuw
  dir. Eefje Blankevoort
  prod. Iris Lammertsma

• Our Land, Our Freedom  | World Premiere 
  dirs. & prods. Meena Nanji, Zippy Kumundu
  prod. Eliane Ferreira

• Zinder 
  dir. Aicha Mackyprod. Clara Vuillermoz, Ousmane Samassekou, Erik Winker

In the forum:

• Coexistence My Ass | Rough Cut Project 
  dir. & prod. Amber Fares
  prod. Rachel Leah Jones

• The Long Cuban Night | Pitch Project
  dir. Sergio Fernández Borrás
  prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck, Sergio Fernández Borrás

• Shadows of the Forest | Pitch Project
  dirs. Akash Basumatari, Shrutiman Deori
  prod. Nishtha Jain

• To Use a Mountain | Rough Cut Project
  dir. Casey Carter
  prod. Colleen Cassingham, Brett Story 

• Queens Ballroom | Producers Connection Project
  dir. Siyi Chen, Hansen Lin 
  prod. Siyi Chen, Violet Feng

Meet our Team at IDFA

Our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae and Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes will be in attendance at the festival. They will be speaking at the IDFA academy (a training program for 110 selected emerging filmmakers coming to IDFA), taking 1:1 meetings and giving presentations on our programs and funding opportunities at the Industry Hub. They will also be hosting an IDFA industry lunch as an opportunity for us to celebrate our 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipients. 

Chicken & Egg Pictures is extremely proud to share some big news: Five AlumNest filmmakers have been invited to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The new members include Project: Hatched 2020 grantee Erika Cohn (Belly of the Beast), 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Katja Esson (Razing Liberty Square), 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Violet Du Feng (Hidden Letters), 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Sonia Kennebeck, and Nest-supported filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman (Roll Red Roll, One Shot One Kill). 

We also want to congratulate Lindsey Dryden (producer of Nest-supported Unrest) and Melanie Miller (producer of Project: Hatched 2021 grantee On The Divide) for their invitations!   

Of the 2023 Class, 40% identify as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States.

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

Nest-supported Films on the Documentary Feature Short List

Hidden Letters

dirs. Violet Feng, Zhao Qing

prods. Violet Feng, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Jean Tsien, Su Kim

Hidden Letters is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

The Janes

dirs.  Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

prods. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin

The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist.

AlumNest Films on the Documentary Feature Shortlist

• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
  dir. Laura Poitras
  prods. Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov
  
  
• Descendant  
  dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
  prods. Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin

AlumNest Films on the Documentary Short Films Shortlist

• Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison
  dir. Cinque Northern
  prod. Catherine Gund
  
  
• The Flagmakers
  dirs. & prods. Sharon Liese, Cynthia Wade
   
• The Martha Mitchell Effect
  dirs. Anne Alvergue, Debra McClutchy
  prods. Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy

Check out the nominated Nest-supported films including:

BEBA

dir. & prod. Rebeca Huntt

prod. Sofia Geld

Project: Hatched 2022 grantee BEBA is nominated for Outstanding Debut Feature and is included in The Unforgettables list. Director Rebeca Huntt is nominated for Outstanding Direction.

Hidden Letters

dirs. Violet Feng, Zhao Qing

prods. Violet Feng, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Jean Tsien, Su Kim

2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Hidden Letters is nominated for the Spotlight Award. 

Mija

dir. & prod. Isabel Castro

prod. Tabs Breese, Yesenia Tlahuel

2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Mija is nominated for the Audience Choice Award and is included in The Unforgettables list.

Users

dir. Natalia Almada

prod. Josh Penn

Users was supported through Natalia Almada’s 2018 Chicken & Egg Award and is nominated  for Outstanding Original Music Score and Cinematography.

From AlumNest

• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
  dir. Laura Poitras
  prods. Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov
  Nominated for Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Nonfiction Fiction Film, Outstanding Original Music Score, and is included in The Unforgettables list 
  
  
• Black and Missing
  dir. Geeta Gandbhir and Samantha Knowles
  prods. Geeta Gandbhir, Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Soledad O’Brien
  Nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Series
  
  
• Descendant
  dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
  prods. Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin
  Nominated for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Original Music Score
  
  
• Mind Over Murder
  dir. Nanfu Wang
  prod. Alexander Baertl
  Nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Series
  
  
• The Martha Mitchell Effect
  dir. Anne Alvergue, Debra McClutchy
  prod. Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy
  Nominated for Outstanding Non-fiction short
  
   
• The Joys and Sorrows of Young Yuguo
  dir. Ilinca Călugăreanu
  prod. Mara Adina
  Included in the Shorts List (Cinema Eye’s Annual List of the Year’s Top Short Documentaries)

World Premiere

An Act of Worship

dir. Nausheen Dadabhoy

prods. Sofian Khan, Kristi Jacobson, Heba Elorbany

An Act of Worship is an exploration of the last 30 years of Muslim life in America, weaving together observational footage of three activist women who came of age after 9/11 with news archival footage, community-sourced home videos, and audio interviews along with evocative recollections of individuals impacted by Islamophobic policy. From the perspective of Muslim Americans, he film revisits pivotal moments in US history that have shaped their lives, such as the first Gulf War, 9/11, the Boston Marathon Bombing, and Trump’s travel ban, creating a prismatic counter-narrative and opening a window into their world through collective memory. This is what it means to be a Muslim in America. 

An Act of Worship participated in the 2018 Diversity Fellows Initiative (past program) and is a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Get your tickets with this link. 

World Premiere

Hidden Letters

dir. & prod. Violet Feng

prods. Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Jean Tsien, Su Kim

Our story began hundreds of years ago in a secluded village in China where women’s lives were completely controlled by men. They created a secret written language called Nushu that men didn’t understand. They wrote poems and songs to give each other strength and dignity, and vowed to be lifetime sisters in this prose. At the brink of extinction, Nushu is now being commodified in the context of capitalism. Hidden Letters is a film about two young women trying to reclaim the power of Nushu, despite the new threats in a world of revived patriarchy.

Hidden Letters a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Get your tickets with this link.  

And see Violet Feng speak at TRIBECA TALKS: Speaking in Codes: Storytelling that Codifies Gender Equitable Systems in China and the U.S.  

Women filmmakers and artists around the world face a parallel challenge in navigating industries that are codified by male decision-makers and storytelling customs. This panel will explore how women and marginalized genders work to support one another to re-codify a more equitable system through investment in storytelling.* Panelists include director Violet Feng, Gloria Steinem, and Robin Morgan. Panel hosted by InMaat, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and Independent Lens. 

Get your tickets with this link.

BEBA

dir. & prod. Rebeca Huntt

prod. Sofia Geld

A stunning self-portrait, tough, raw, stubborn, and powerful. Beba stares down the curses of her ancestry, probing the psychic wounds she has inherited, while simultaneously embracing the vastness of her multitudes, occupying many spaces, and demanding to be seen in all of them. 

BEBA is a Project: Hatched 2022 grantee. 

Get your tickets with this link.

From the AlumNest

• Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices From a Plantation Prison
  prod. Catherine Gund
  dir. Cinque Northern
  
  
• Body Parts (World Premiere)
  dir. Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
  prod. Helen Hood Scheer 
  
  
• Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (World Premiere)
  dirs. Geeta Gandbhir, Sam Pollard
  prods. Jessica Devaney, Anya Rous, Dema Paxton Fofang
  
  
• To The End
  dir. Rachel Lears
  prod. Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
  
  
• Unfinished Business (World Premiere)
  dir. & prod. Alison Klayman
  prods. Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Christopher Clements, Nicholas Ma, Mishka Brown
   
• The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (World Premiere)
  dirs. Yoruba Richen, Johanna Hamilton
  prod. Christalyn Hampton

Check out the full line-up with this link.
*Text courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival