2025 CPH:DOX Hands Out Awards To ‘Always,’ ‘2000 Meters To Andriivka’

CPH:DOX has crowned winners at the latest edition of the renowned nonfiction film festival in Copenhagen.

The DOX:Award, the festival’s top prize, went to Always, the directorial debut of Deming Chen. The film tells the story of a young poet, 8-year-old Youbin, who lives “deep in the lush mountains of Hunan province” in southern China.

“There’s a huge difference between nothing and small things. But life is in fact made up of many, often unnoticed, small things. We need the sensibilities of artists to show us the greatness of the little things,” noted the DOX:Award jury comprised of Rikke Tambo Andersen, Max Kestner, Nicolas Rapold, Adele Tulli and Raul Niño Zambrano. “This exquisitely shot chronicle of a rural farming family is alive with compassion and poetry.”

The DOX:Award, sponsored by Politiken and Politiken-Fonden, comes with a €10,000 prize.

The jury awarded a Special Mention to Flophouse America, a documentary revolving around another a boy wise beyond his years. Monica Strømdahl makes her directorial debut with the film about 12-year-old Mikal and his parents, who struggle with alcoholism while living in the cramped quarters of a bare-bones hotel in Florida.

In a possible preview of next year’s Oscar race, Mstyslav Chernov’s 2000 Meters to Andriivka won the F:ACT Award, while a Special Mention in that competitive category went to Geeta Gandbhir’s The Perfect Neighbor. Both films held their world premieres in January at the Sundance Film Festival.

2000 Meters to Andriivka, Chernov’s follow up to the Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol, plunges viewers into war as Ukrainian troops advance along a narrow strip of land, trying to recapture a village seized by Russian invaders.

“Ultimately we give the F:ACT award to 2000 Meters to Andriivka not just because it’s a conflict on our doorstep, but because it’s a masterpiece in filmmaking: a haunting, multi layered portrayal of war comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front. But this is not the First World War, it’s today,” wrote the jury, comprised of Alexis Bloom, Mikala Krogh and Steffi Niederzoll. “The meaninglessness of war, and also its unsettling poetry are all on full display here. An artist in amongst bloodshed brings the reality home, and make an anti war film that forces us to reflect on the dignity of each human life lost.”

The F:ACT Award, supported by International Media Support and the Danish Union of Journalists, honors “films blending documentary and investigative journalism” and comes with a €5,000 prize. [Director Mstyslav Chernov will appear on the next edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, releasing on Tuesday].

The jury awarded a Special Mention to The Perfect Neighbor, a film that uses police bodycam and dashcam video to document a shocking 2023 case in Florida where a white woman shot to death her Black neighbor. Calling the film “extremely powerful on a physical level,” jurors said, “The choice to stay on the bodycam footage was brave, and it paid off. This shows enormous filmmaking skill. This is a devastating film about gun violence, but it’s also a film about families, about every day life, and the connections between us. The triangle between the perpetrator, the police and the neighbors is woven together with great sensitivity. In its own way, The Perfect Neighbor is a restrained film, and that’s what proves so shattering.”

The festival’s HUMAN:RIGHTS Award, now in its second year of existence, went to 9-Month Contract, directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili. In early March, Deadline premiered the trailer for the film, “an intimate and raw portrait” of the emotional and physical toll of unregulated surrogacy work in the republic of Georgia.

The jury, comprised of Mohamed Saïd Ouma, Tomáš Poštulka and Birgitte Stærmose, said 9-Month Contract “portrays the relationship between a mother and her daughter with a radical intimacy and an outstanding tenderness. Through its visual poetry the film balances delicately between the harshness of their situation and the humanity of Zhana and her intense love for her daughter.”

The HUMAN:RIGHTS Award, sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, comes with a prize of €5,000.

Jurors awarded a Special Mention to The Encampments, a very timely film directed by Michael T. Workman and Kei Pritsker that examines the pro-Palestinian student activists who occupied Columbia University last year to protest Israel’s decimation of Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.

The jury wrote, “The Special Mention goes to a hopeful and inspiring film that immerses you in the activism of students in times of conflict and oppression.”

These are the additional awards presented Friday at CPH:DOX:

NORDIC:DOX AWARD

Winner: WALLS – AKINNI INUK by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam

GL/ 2025 / World Premiere

Special Mention: THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes

DK / 2025 / World Premiere

The NORDIC:DOX Award (€5,000) honors standout documentaries from the Nordic region.

The jury consisted of Butheina Kazim, Dario Oliveira, and Roja Pakari.

Jury statement: “Out of the periphery, armed with radical dignity in the face of a prolonged and harsh injustice, we bore witness to a pure flow of vulnerability, front and center, refusing to be cast aside. In the heartbroken cadence of its native tongue, we found an alignment of elements, an intuitive and steadfast tale of a feminine force of nature.

“Fresh like a gust of the Nordic wind, the healing powers of the film left us breathing hope and gentle triumph. A reminder of putting cameras in the rightful hands, demonstrating the difference between observational documentary and representational storytelling.

“For sending us off all the wiser, we present the award for Best Nordic Documentary to WALLS (Akinni Inuk) by Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg & Sofie Rørdam from Greenland.”

“Because some of the hardest questions can sometimes be answered with the simplest of ideas and a whole lotta style, an honorable mention goes to THE NICEST MEN ON EARTH by Josefine Exner & Sebastian Gerdes.”

NEXT:WAVE AWARD

Winner: ABODE OF DAWN by Kristina Shtubert

DE / 2024 / International Premiere

Special Mention: WHO WITNESSED THE TEMPLES FALL by Lucía Selva

SP / 2025 / World Premiere

The NEXT:WAVE Award (€5,000) highlights new and emerging filmmakers.

The jury consisted of Sissel Morell Dargis, Sona Karapoghosyan, and María Palacios Cruz.

Jury statement: ‘Set in a northern forest, the film follows a community which emerged as a replacement for a lost past which perhaps never existed.

“For its immense respect and long-term commitment, nuanced approach to existential questions and ability to embrace an environment with so many contradictions, The Next:Wave award goes to Adobe of Dawn.

“We also want to award a special mention to a film imbued with magic and mystery whose visual language and soundscapes impressed us. A film that blurs past and present to address issues around urbanization, gentrification and the social landscape and troubled history of Spain. The film with the most beautiful name and title design, we award a special mention to Who Witnessed the Temples Fall.

NEW:VISION

Winner: RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, DECEMBER 2018 by Juliette Le Monniyer

BE / 2025 / World Premiere

Special mention: SCRAP by Noémie Lobry

FR / 2025 / World Premiere

The NEW:VISION Award (€5,000) celebrates art films and boundary-pushing experiments.

The jury consisted of Mason Leaver-Yap, Jeppe Lange, and Marina Kožul.

Jury statement: Winner: RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, DECEMBER 2018 “Penetrating a sunny pastoral landscape in single-take, Juliette Le Monnyer’s video takes us through an unfolding yet unspecified moment of conflict. The shakey camera pans as if scaling a ziggurat from afar. Dated from 2018, this is a document of a just-past that refuses to give a comprehensive overview and yet, in its partial nature, reveals much about the moment we find ourselves in — the timing of this film’s release: March 2025.

“Wavering hesitantly between the everyday and the unknowable, this is a short film delivered with uncompromising conceptual rigor. It demands questions about what we – as viewers, as filmmakers – are witnessing. What we choose to focus on and when – what do we overlook, what do we withhold, when do we stop watching.”

Special mention: SCRAP

“Through an inventive use of associations the film weaves together childhood memories, eerie scenes from computer games, and glimpses of a post-apocalyptic future. Salvaging and cannibalizing components of the coming of age drama and the road movie genre, we’ve been taken to look upon it with a different eye.”

INTER:ACTIVE AWARD

Winner: ‘CONSTANTINOPOLIAD’ by Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly

UK / Installation / 2025 / International Premiere

Special Mention: THE GARDEN SAYS… by Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe

Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breyne

DK / XR Perfomance-Installation / 2025 / World Premiere

The award winner will receive a winning package including two complimentary industry accreditations for Sunny Side of the Doc, two full access accreditations for the Industry Days of New Images Festival, 6 hours of legal consultation on European IP law and a cash prize of €1000.

The jury consisted of Irene Campolmi, David Adler, and Carl Emil Carlsen.

Jury statement: “In a world of hyper-immersive technologies, where interactivity often demands movement, headsets, or VR goggles, Costantinopoliad invites us to do something far more radical: to sit still and listen.

“Costantinopoliad is not just a work of storytelling; it is an invitation to discovery. It intertwines narrative with action, making us feel as though we are the first to stumble upon this archive, the first to unearth Cavafy’s story, to breathe life into his words. The work radiates a rare curiosity and playfulness, slipping between the boundaries of literature, performance, and archaeology.

“Yet, just as we settle into this deeply personal experience, an uncanny sensation creeps in. As we turn the pages, touch the stones, and immerse ourselves in the poet’s world, we become the protagonist, performers in an unfolding documentary. Our movements, our gestures, become part of a cinematic language, synchronized with the voice-over that narrates a past we are now embodying.

“It is with great pleasure that we announce Costantinopoliad by Sister Sylvester & Nadah El Shazly as the recipient of this year’s INTER:ACTIVE exhibition award. This work is not just anartwork—it is an experience, a portal, a living archive.”

Special Mention: “We are delighted to extend an Honorable Mention to The Garden Says… by Uri and Michelle Kranot, Sara Topsøe Jensen, Sarah John & Marieke Breynefor their beautiful, thought-provoking, and deeply reflective installation.

“Centered on the aesthetic experience of a virtual garden and the serendipity of chance encounters, this work dares to create a space where interactions unfold organically—and it does so with remarkable success. The Garden Says… is not just an environment but an invitation—one that encourages return, exploration, and the continuous possibility of new meetings. Thank you for offering us a heartfelt and personal experience, one that reminds us of the power of connection and shared presence.”