– We take a closer look at five projects that stood out among this year’s CPH:DOX industry selections, which earned some of the event’s key awards
Cosmofonia by Véréna Paravel
This year, CPH:DOX’s sprawling industry section encompassed CPH:FORUM, CHANGE, CPH:LAB and CPH:ROUGHCUT. Following the announcement of the award winners (see the news), we take a closer look at five projects that received major distinctions, highlighting formally ambitious works and politically engaged storytelling from across the globe, and reflecting the festival’s continued commitment to boundary-pushing non-fiction cinema.
Don’t Let the Sun Go Up on Me by Asmae El Moudir
Eurimages New Lab Outreach Award
Don’t Let the Sun Go Up on Me – Asmae El Moudir (Morocco/France/Denmark/Norway/Chile)
Producers: Emma Lepers, Monica Hellström, Asmae El Moudir
Don’t Let the Sun Go Up on Me centres on Fatimazahra, a young woman living with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), a rare genetic disorder that prevents her from being exposed to sunlight, forcing her into a nocturnal existence shared with an online community of peers she calls “the bats”. Drawing on intimate VHS archives filmed by her father over more than a decade, alongside observational footage, the film traces her life suspended between shadow and light, before shifting, following her passing in 2023, to her sister Meriem, who seeks to honour her memory by bringing this virtual community into the physical world, culminating in a journey to Norway’s Lofoten Islands, where the polar night offers a rare experience of life without daylight. Blending archival material with a contemporary, character-driven approach, the project unfolds as a hybrid and deeply personal documentary exploring grief, community and the reinvention of identity beyond physical limitations. Directed by Asmae El Moudir, whose debut feature, The Mother of All Lies, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Un Certain Regard Directing Prize and the Golden Eye for Best Documentary, the film is currently in production and is expected to be delivered in May 2027, with the team (Haut et Court Doc, Insight Films, Lofoten Films, Quijote Films and Ström Pictures) seeking further financing, strategic partners and foundations, and Autlook Filmsales attached as the sales agent.
Eurimages New Lab Innovation Award
Cosmofonia – Véréna Paravel (France)
Producer: Florence Cohen
Cosmofonia sets out to radically transform the conditions of cinematic perception through a formal experiment centred on sound, constructing a soundtrack composed almost entirely of acoustic phenomena never previously heard by human ears, captured through technologies such as hydrophones, laser vibrometers and contact sensors that register vibrations in materials including bark, water, stone and even astrophysical data. Rejecting anthropocentric hierarchies, the film adopts a visual approach based on hunting cameras and scientific optics, flattening the field of attention so that humans, animals, environments and invisible processes coexist without narrative privilege, while locations ranging from Japan and the Camargue to Sicily and the Yucatán serve as testing grounds for an expanded sensory experience. Positioned at the intersection of scientific inquiry, political gesture and artistic exploration, the project proposes a kind of cinema that listens before it sees, inviting a reconfiguration of the relationship between humans and their environment through new forms of attention and co-existence. Directed by Véréna Paravel, known for her collaborations with Lucien Castaing-Taylor on works such as Leviathan [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and De Humani Corporis Fabrica [+see also:
film review
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interview: Véréna Paravel, Lucien Cast…
film profile], the project is currently in development and is expected to be delivered in May 2027, with the team seeking further financing and partners.
Matrescence by Kathryn Ferguson
Sandbox Films Science Pitch Prize
Matrescence – Kathryn Ferguson (UK)
Producers: Rosie Crerar, Elanor Emptage
Matrescence is a cinematic and genre-defying documentary that explores the profound physiological, neurological and cultural transformations of pregnancy and early motherhood, inspired by Lucy Jones’ groundbreaking work on the subject. The film examines phenomena such as fetomaternal microchimerism (the exchange of cells between mother and child) alongside the extreme hormonal and neurological changes that occur during this life-altering period, situating these shifts within broader societal and systemic pressures, including inadequate maternal healthcare, economic strain and cultural expectations. Combining poetic and cinematic visuals with investigative depth, the project highlights both the beauty and the challenges of matrescence, foregrounding birth activists and maternal support groups while prompting urgent reflection on how society nurtures – or fails to nurture – its mothers. Directed by Kathryn Ferguson, whose debut feature, Nothing Compares [+see also:
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film profile], premiered at Sundance and won multiple awards, including two BIFAs, the film is currently in development and is expected to be delivered in January 2028, with the team seeking co-producers and financing.
Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-Production Award/ARTE Award
Everything Is Red and Grey – Shourideh C Molavi, Shrouq Alaila (Palestine/Canada)
Producers: Shourideh C Molavi, Henry Plavidal, Laura Poitras
Everything Is Red and Grey follows a group of young Palestinian filmmakers in Gaza as they confront the tragic killing of their friend and mentor Roshdi al Sarraj, turning their tools of creative resistance towards the goal of documenting their own communities beyond the imposed lens of rubble, displacement and conflict. Combining archival and drone footage collected over nearly a decade, including Roshdi’s own previously unseen material, the film traces the life, vision and impact of a generation of journalists and filmmakers who grew up under siege, while also following Shrouq Alaila, Roshdi’s widow and an Emmy-winning journalist, as she navigates displacement, motherhood and the continuation of Ain Media’s work in Gaza. Directed by Shourideh C Molavi and co-directed by Shrouq Alaila, and executive-produced by Laura Poitras, the movie is a narrative documentary reflecting on grief, memory and creative resistance, situating personal and archival material within the wider sociopolitical context of Gaza. The team is seeking co-production partners and financing for the project, which is currently in development and has an expected delivery date of October 2027.
We Are Volcanoes by Sharon Yeung
ARTE Award
We Are Volcanoes – Sharon Yeung (Hong Kong/Norway)
Producers: Sharon Yeung, Jillian Schlesinger
We Are Volcanoes follows a collective of survivors of gender-based violence in a city undergoing profound social and political transformation. Blending vérité, LiDAR animation and archival footage, the film traces the experiences of women speaking out against sexual violence, while bringing together dozens of voices in a participatory chorus that draws parallels between personal trauma and the city’s colonial legacies. Directed by Sharon Yeung and Natalie Chao, the project adopts a collective, decolonial approach to storytelling that interweaves past and present, strength and vulnerability, in order to rebuild a shared memory and inspire social justice. The team is seeking further financing and strategic partners for the film, which is now in production with an expected delivery date of March 2028.
