This is not a review. The film is already known and has been shown in Denmark and came home from Sundance with an award. Adrian Horton wrote this (a quote) in Guardian to refresh your memory and for all those who are to watch the film during the festival:
…Any formal quibbles I had while viewing – and there were few – were easily overridden by fascination and gratitude, so infrequently is an unvarnished, honest, personal portrait of Russian daily life available to a western audience, especially since the invasion. To wit, this film was only possible because of a documentary team outside of the country, and the fact that Talankin, at great personal cost, decided to leave Russia for an undisclosed destination, an outcome the film touches on just briefly at its bookends. Mr Nobody Against Putin ultimately stands as both an act of service and a tribute – to a school that once was, to students whose lives were and will be irrevocably changed for the worse by the regime, to a once fruitful job. Talankin has produced a must-watch, indelible document of ideological warfare that echoes far beyond Russia. How’s that for a nobody?…
Unique access to film is what is written in the festival press about the opening film of CPH:DOX 2025. Unique access to former General Secretary of NATO Jens Stoltenberg during his last year in that position. And this is what Gulliksen had to his compatriot, access. Example: Oh… I had forgotten that you would be here, Stoltenberg says a couple of times, when he enters the car waiting for him, to take him to the next meeting. Gulliksen is there with the camera and questions.
Actually, Stoltenberg entering cars and getting out of cars are the most used scenes in the film about the very sympathetic Norwegian diplomat, who wanted to end his Brussels career to come home to wife and family, but President Biden convinced him to take one more year of hard work.
Stoltenberg, a warmhearted man, goes to Kyiv, meets Zelenskyj – great scenes in the train(s) trips to Ukraine – good scenes with his advisors in the office in Brussels – Stoltenberg having breakfast quite alone in his NATO salon – Stoltenberg trying to make the Hungarian troublemaker, Putin-lover Orban, refrain from making trouble at one of big NATO meetings, where Stoltenberg aims for a unity FOR Ukraine.
The meetings and the themes discussed at them are well known and the film structure is a classic cinéma vérité style, it’s a well known built visual monument of a great statesman, a diplomat indeed, but how close do we really get to him – yes, once, with archive from the emotional and intelligent speech Stoltenberg made in 2011 to commemorate the victims of Utøya. Now he is Minister of Finances in Norway… Does that give him more of the rest, he deserves after NATO and the eternal traveling…
Jeg har sakset lidt i en pressemeddelelse fra cph:dox for at fremhæve festivalens landsdækkende success, hvor mere and halvdelen af Danmarks kommuner er med i festivalen. Sådan skal det være skriver denne tidligere ansatte ved Statens Filmcentral, som netop var landsdækkende i sin virksomhed med filmvisninger i skoler, kulturhuse, biblioteker og biografer, en gang imellem. Nu er dokumentargenrens popularitet and festivalens suveræne sans for promotion baggrunden for at film, som vi københavnere kan se på det store lærred også er at finde landsdækkende. Det er filmpolitik, det er kulturpolitik og det manglede bare! Her er klip fra pressemeddelelsen:
Vild vækstkurve: DOX:DANMARK – den landsdækkende udgave af dokumentarfilmfestivalen CPH:DOX – har på få år femdoblet sin størrelse og når i 2025 ud til rekordmange danskere.
I år er der synkront med festivalen i København lokale dokumentarfilmfestivaler i mere end halvdelen af Danmarks kommuner, der vil give biografgæster over hele landet mulighed for at opleve dokumentarfilm om alt fra Putin og Netanyahu over Cirkeline og Prins Joachim.
CPH:DOX og DOX:DANMARK foregår fra den 19.-30. marts
Stor interesse på tværs af hele landet
På blot tre et halvt år er CPH:DOX’ nationale udgave DOX:DANMARK vokset til mere end femdobbelt størrelse. Tilbage i efteråret 2021, hvor festivalen søsatte initiativet, deltog 9 kommuner – i år er antallet steget til intet mindre end 54. Dermed er mere end halvdelen af landets 98 kommuner en del af dokumentarfilmfestivalen, som også er en af de største på verdensplan, og som hvert år præsenterer både dokumentarfilm, talks, debatter, kunst og en bred vifte af andre events.
”En filmfestival som CPH:DOX skal være for alle danskere, uanset hvor de bor. Derfor er vi virkelig stolte over, at så mange kommuner nu bakker op om DOX:DANMARK og giver deres borgere mulighed for at deltage i deres egen, lokale filmfestival. Det vidner om, at der er stor interesse for dokumentarfilmgenren, og for alle de vigtige samtaler, der følger med,” lyder det fra Niklas Engstrøm, der er kunstnerisk direktør i CPH:DOX.
Fra Putin til Prins Joachim
Uanset hvor i landet man bor, er der god chance for, at man i en af nærområdets biografer kan opleve dokumentarfilm og forskellige dokumentarrelaterede events under DOX:DANMARK. Faktisk er det over 100 forskellige biografer og kulturinstitutioner, fordelt i de 54 kommuner, der inviterer deres lokale publikum indenfor. Biograferne vælger selv, hvilke film de vil vise ud fra en liste på mere end 20 film fra årets festivalprogram.
En af de dokumentarfilm, som mange biografer i DOX:DANMARK gerne vil vise, er Mr. Nobody mod Putin (foto) hvor vi følger en modig skolelærer, der i al hemmelighed filmer, hvad der sker i det russiske skolesystem i kølvandet på Putins invasion af Ukraine. Men mange biografer i DOX:DANMARK er naturligvis også interesseret i film fra egen hjemmebane. Flere steder vil man således kunne opleve dokumentarfilmen Hærvejen, hvor Prins Joachim og forfatter Steffen Jacobsen begiver sig ud på den danske vandresti, mens de taler, reflekterer og diskuterer om stort og småt.
Danmarks dokumentarglade biografgængere kan også se frem til blandt andet Facing War om Jens Stoltenberg, Kærestebreve fra Thy om det danske band Ganger, Take The Money and Run om Jens Haanings bemærkelsesværdige kunstværk, der endte i en stor retssag – og rigtig mange andre.
Meget mere end dokumentarfilm
Men CPH:DOX nøjes ikke bare med at vise film. Ud af de mere end 300 visninger arrangerer festivalen også omtrent 150 skræddersyede events efter visningerne, hvilket kan være alt fra instruktør-besøg til brætspilsaftener, rock- og jazzkoncerter, og ekspertoplæg – blandt andet med kendte navne som den tidligere danske toppolitiker og nu direktør i Tænketanken Europa Lykke Friis, kunstner Jens Haaning, tidligere fodboldspiller Jonathan Richter, forfatter og Rusland-kender Leif Davidsen, musiker Karen Mukupa, livsstilsekspert Flemming Møldrup og ikke mindst hele Danmarks yndlings-ægtefælle fra ‘Gift ved første blik’, Morten Mortensen.
Der skal også være plads til de skæve events, såsom en lokal rengøringsdame der læser sine digte op inden visning af Kærestebreve fra Thy, hekseritualer i forbindelse med filmen Heks, og en lokal danseskole der laver K-pop dans i forbindelse med visningen af dokumentarfilmen Forever We Are Young om K-pop-gruppen BTS – og rigtig meget mere.
Alt sammen arrangeres i tæt samarbejde med de lokale kulturaktører, og de individuelle programmer vil fremgå af biografernes egne hjemmesider og på cphdox.dk/doxdanmark
Multi-award winning director Nicolas Philibert, one of the most important documentary filmmakers of our times and the 27th TIDF’s guest, received the Festival’s honorary Golden Alexander on Friday, March 7th, at Olympion theater, prior to the screening of the film On the Adamant (2023), Golden Bear winner at the Berlinale. The award was bestowed to the exceptional French filmmaker by the Festival’s General Director, Elise Jalladeau, and the Head of Programming, Yorgos Krassakopoulos, who welcomed the audience.
“Tonight, it is an honor to bestow the Golden Alexander to one of the most significant documentary filmmakers of our time, Nicolas Philibert. A creator whose primary attributes include patience, sensitivity, and profound commitment to capturing the complexity and beauty of everyday life with precision, respect, and humanitarianism. Nicolas Philibert has been with us before, and through the years, we had the pleasure to showcase nearly his entire body of work. From the emblematic To Be and to Have, which was a turning point for the contemporary documentary genre, to On the Adamant, a film in which he tenderly documented a mental health care facility, and which is going to be screened this evening, his work defined the way we perceive the art of documentary,” they stated.
Nicolas Philibert warmly thanked the Festival for the invitation: “thank you from the bottom of my heart, all this is truly wonderful. For me, it is very important that I am able to share this award with Linda, my partner and companion throughout this whole journey, the one who makes my work more radiant and illuminating. She has also accompanied me here, in Thessaloniki. I will place this beautiful gift you have bestowed upon me in its rightful place at home. More specifically, I will put it in a corridor that I pass by 20 to 30 times a day, which means I will think of you quite often. Okay, perhaps not 30 times a day, but most certainly a lot,” Nicolas Philibert initially said.
Subsequently, he narrated a fascinating story to the audience: “two years ago, Berlinale honored me with the Golden Bear award for On the Adamant, and the following day, I had issues in the security check at the airport. The Golden Bear was packed away in my suitcase, and naturally, when I went to pass by the machine, it started beeping. The lady behind her computer asked me to open it. So, I take out the little figurine and the lady immediately calls her supervisor. The supervisor, in turn, summons his own supervisor, and the latter ends up calling the police. I swear to you that everything I’m telling you is true. Two huge German policemen arrive, wearing bulletproof vests, and they look at the little bear quite inquisitively. They also call their supervisor. He arrives, recognizes the object and shakes my hand, extending his congratulations”.
Photo from post of Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival.
I was invited by Davis Simanis Jr. to come to Riga to teach documentary for a week at the new premises of the Academy of Culture, where Davis, a prominent fiction and documentary director, has signed a contract of four years to be the Rector of the Academy that (Wikipedia) is “a higher education establishment in Latvia offering various bachelor’s, magister and doctoral degree programmes on cultural subjects. The academy was founded in 1990.” The new place includes several buildings and is said to have been the factory of the cigarette company Prince… Danish.
Davis – see photo, to the right – took me and producer Uldis Cekulis (left) around and proudly we were on the rooftop, fifth floor, perfect for summer receptions.
I had 13 students for the five days, some were there all the time, others had to leave some times as they had work to do in the industry. I managed to have one hour meeting with all the them to know a bit more about them and to hear which project they are working on as part of their study – they have to finish a short documentary. The themes were many, portraits of course, a child with autism, a family, “do you want to have children or not”, death, city transport, immigrants doing Wolt or Bolt, jobs that Latvians don’t want to touch and the scout movement in the country during and after Soviet Union.
And I showed them clips and full films – started with “Bridges of Time” to tell the students about Herz Frank and Uldis Brauns, the intellectual filmmaker and the poetic filmmaker. They were already pretty much – from their Master’s Programme – informed about the Direct Cinema and Vérité, so I skipped the wonderful film that legendary Peter Wintonick made about the latter, with stars like Richard Leacock, Maysles and Pennebaker.
Historically Latvian documentary is strong. I mentioned Herz Frank and Uldis Brauns, I have written about Juris Podnieks and – still alive – the masters Ivars Seleckis, and Ivars Zviedris, and with producers like Guntis Trekteris and Uldis Cekulis, new talents will get their chance to develop projects. Not to forget, Latvia has its National Film Centre that functions well giving money for production and taking care of sending films to international festivals.
Thanks for the invitation Davis Simanis, hope the students got some inspiration.
Two first names are the directors followed by the producers.
I was in the multiplex cinema Palads in Copenhagen last night. The owner Nordisk Film showed the Ukrainian Oscar nominee in the documentary section, “Porcelain War”, in collaboration with Ukraine House in Denmark. The majority of the audience, I guess, were Ukrainians living in Copenhagen – where were the Danish filmmakers…?
Anyway, fine film, warm in atmosphere when we were following the protagonists, three artists; two of them making ceramics with inspiration from nature and third one a painter. Beautiful images, many drone shots of nature – again and again interrupted by sequences from the Russian full scale invasion and its consequences, bombings, corpses on the roads, we have seen it before, unfortunately, in the three years the war has been part of the Ukrainian daily life. Sound of sirens every day but Anya continues to do her ceramic art, most often they are amazing colored snails, who for the film have small animation parts of animals and people on the sculptures. Creativity!
I think the filmmakers should have refrained from the effect sound to the war images, on the other hand the music is fantastic, first of all the songs performed by the quartet DakhaBrakha, whose voices we hear and who are in the picture, while the credits are rolling at the end of the film. Their music for the film is published.
“Porcelain War” is one the five Oscar nominated, I saw four of them, the winner you will know Monday morning, if you live in Denmark.
More than 200 new films representing different stories from across the globe: a record number of 94 world premieres, 23 international premieres and 8 European premieres are featured in this year’s festival.
The 22nd edition of CPH:DOX comes at a moment of irreversible global change, where rising geopolitical tensions make the transformative lens of documentary more urgent than ever. Against this backdrop, CPH:DOX 2025 offers an exploration of the most urgent issues – from Ukraine and Gaza to Syria and Sudan, and with the theme ‘Right Here, Right Now,’ the festival dives deep into questions of human, civil and state rights in a world undergoing major changes. Expanding on the recently added Human:Rights Award, this film and event programme also turns attention to the urgent challenges facing international and even animal rights today.
“A festival theme always exists in dialogue with reality – both responding to and challenged by unfolding global events. This year, reality and curation intersect in striking ways. As we witness the erosion of the rules-based world order by major global powers, this year’s programme focuses on the foundational role of human and state rights upon which that order was built. CPH:DOX 2025 features a compelling selection of films, debates, and live talks that examine pressing global questions: What happens to basic human rights when raw power becomes the norm? What does diplomacy look like in an era of shifting alliances? And how do artists, activists, and filmmakers navigate an increasingly fractured world? Amid these pressing questions, the art of documentary provides a refreshing, transformative lens, showing us that reality is far richer and more complex than the endless news headlines and social media chatter lead us to believe,” says Artistic Director Niklas Engstrøm.
The curated programme ‘Right Here, Right Now’ includes films, debates and live talks with visionary figures such as the renowned artist and activist Ai Weiwei, Ukrainian feminist activist Inna Shevchenko, internationally recognised Israeli architect and researcher Eyal Weizman, Bulgarian investigative journalist and whistleblower Christo Grozev and Republican Trump critic Adam Kinzinger amongst many others.
Running from March 19-30, CPH:DOX 2025 brings a new thematic section focusing on human rights and the rules-based international order – Right Here, Right Now. World premieres include films about Israel and Palestine, the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the rise of the far-right across Europe, identity politics, art and activism and much more. Key figures coming to Copenhagen include artist and activist Ai Weiwei, Ukrainian feminist activist Inna Shevchenko, investigative journalist and whistleblower Christo Grozev, musician Warren Ellis, HBO comedian Jerrod Carmichael, Republican Trump critic Adam Kinzinger and the iconic model and actress Twiggy amongst others.
The festival will present a total of 94 world premieres of which 68 are feature-length films – this is the highest number of feature-length world premieres in the festival’s history. This year’s film programme features six competition categories, judged by an international jury: DOX:AWARD, F:ACT AWARD, NORDIC:DOX AWARD, NEXT:WAVE AWARD, NEW:VISION AWARD and HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD.
The 2025 DOX:AWARD main competition lineup features strongly anticipated world premieres such as Alisa Kovalenko’s ‘My Dear Theo’ (PHOTO); Thomas Balmés’ ‘À demain sur la Lune’, Artur Franck’s ‘The Helsinki Effect’, and this year’s opening film ‘Facing War’ by Tommy Gulliksen among many other important titles.
World premieres out of competition include the brand new film by Ai Weiwei ‘Animality’, Ian Cheney’s ‘Observer’; ‘Lost for Words’ by Hannah Papacek Harper; ‘Everest Dark’ by Jereme Watt; ‘Azza’ by Stefanie Brockhaus, and ‘Climate in Therapy’ by Nathan Grossman to name a few.
The 22nd edition of CPH:DOX will also be the launchpad for hot Sundance titles like ‘Mr Nobody against Putin’, ‘The Dating Game’, ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’, ‘Coexistence, My Ass!’ and ‘Zodiac Killer Project’.
The film programme can be experienced from March 19-30 in cinemas in Copenhagen and in 54 municipalities around Denmark as the festival is continuing its growth towards nationwide film distribution. From March 28 – April 13, a selection of films from the programme will be screened online on the festival’s streaming platform PARA:DOX.
Dear Colleagues and Friends!Today, Ukrainians mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. None of us wanted war, and we did not think that in the 21st century the time would come when it would be necessary to defend with weapons in hand our statehood, democratic values, and the right to live in an independent country where human rights and international law are respected.We were not ready for this to happen, but we had faith and courage to fight. Our resistance was made possible by the support of many people around the world who stood with Ukraine.You, our international partners, are more than just spectators or colleagues. You are people who understand and share the importance of this struggle. The supportive response we receive from you gives us the strength to move forward. We are grateful to you for every step you take in support of Ukraine’s cultural freedom and independence and for your unwavering stance in the fight for human rights.These days, just as three years ago, we once again find ourselves in a difficult and unpredictable state. Many, including our key allies, are shifting their positions, so our struggle is facing new challenges. The world stands on the brink of tectonic changes. But truth and justice are still the things worth holding on to.In these dark times, we, the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, continue to fulfil our mission—to develop Ukrainian culture and speak about human rights through documentary cinema, as well as to preserve the testimonies of the Ukrainian people’s resistance in the Ukraine War Archive project. We use cinema to tell the story of the values of freedom and dignity that Ukrainians are defending on the front line.Today, just as for the past three years, Ukraine relentlessly continues its struggle, and we ask you: please listen to its voices. We urge you: stand united with Ukrainians today!If you live in Europe, please share and support the petition calling for the use of frozen assets of Russia’s Central Bank to support and rebuild Ukraine.If you want to learn truthful news about Ukrainians’ resistance to the Russian invasion, follow these channels:UNITED24 The Kyiv Independent Respectfully,Docudays UA Team Image: a still from the film “If You Want to Fly, Dig” from the short film series: “Media Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine & ‘War Archive’: Films from the Frontline”.
“With love from the front” (eng. My Dear Theo) on CPH:DOX 2025
This is a text that I took from the FB of Alisa Kovalenko, if you go to that you will also notice the many people Alisa is thanking for the encouragement to make the film:
I didn’t believe at the beginning that from these small fragments of the past, letters and a small part of the shot fragrant footage on the front, could be born a movie, something intact, some fusion of memory, time…
After all, like so many of our other movies in the last 11 years, this movie should not have been… It was neither filmed nor intended to become a movie… In the first months of the full-scale war, cinema seemed to have lost all meaning and I was doing completely different tasks, but the camera stayed around as usual, just to capture some little moments to remember. She spent most of her time in her backpack, in sandbags, in blinders and trenches, lying and filled with smoke, dust and sand, lying as a silent reminder of the past, which was distant and pushed by a new reality. I wrote more than I filmed, wrote many letters then to my 5 year old son Theo in case i die and have something important to leave to him about me and all of us…
Only later did I begin to realize the deeper value of what I managed to preserve. People very close to me, brothers killed on the frontline they were also parents.. And I thought a lot about this movie, as a memory town between us and our children. After all, most of us parents have come to the frontline for our children’s future and it was important for me to remember that… So this movie for me became first and foremost about the light, tenderness, love that is so important to leave in the hearts of our children, our loved ones, even in death…
Today we can finally officially say that the world premiere of “With Love From The Front” (eng. My dear Theo) will be held on March 23 in Copenhagen, at one of the best festivals of documentary cinema, – CPH: DOX. It is particularly nice to have a Prime Minister in Denmark, a country that is one of the few European countries that provides financial support to Ukraine for weapons, which is in fact the most important support for our defense.
Pleased to invite everyone who will be at CPH:DOX for our premiere screening.
First thanks for the existence of this film Marina Stepanska which felt something special and valuable in my materials, otherwise all this would remain in the archives indefinitely.
A big and warm thank you to everyone with whom we worked on the film, everyone who inspired and supported, all my Ukrainian and French families.
And a separate big thank you to my dear brothers who have been with me side by side these first months of the full-scale war on the frontline.
Her er Allan Bergs oplæg til en forevisning af Sønderby Jepsens film i 2013:
”Der er Andreas, Christian og mig, Henrik og min far og min mor og min hustru. Alle drikker.” Det siger fortælleren. Det er altså personerne, og han er en af dem, hovedpersonen, første person, ental, og jeg er inde i et familiedrama, i gang med at lytte til og iagttage en sørgelig historie, og det er disse mennesker, jeg skal være sammen med en film lang. Jeg har problemer med at holde mig fast, for jeg kan ikke holde med, ikke identificere mig, ikke forelske mig, jeg kan ikke holde det ud. Jeg stødes fra, hvor jeg skulle trækkes ind og opsluges. Og jeg kan ikke bare afvise filmen, jeg får mistanke til mig selv, til mine evner til at udfylde min rolle, min opgave. Den at være publikum, som her viser sig som et ansvar. Først og fremmest gæstens ansvar, jeg skal være høflig og forstående og accepterende, jeg er i et fremmed land, hos et besynderligt folk, som opfører sig særegent, som taler et anderledes sprog. Men jeg er anfægtet og jeg kommer i tvivl. Jeg holder filmen ude fra mig, undrende.
Jeg er ikke optaget af hovedpersonens projekt, jeg er ikke optaget af instruktørens projekt. Jeg kan ikke lide nogen, fascineres ikke af nogen. Jeg oplever mig selv som ufrivillig kigger, vil genert vende ansigtet væk, se ned i gulvet. Men jeg krummer ikke tæer, dette er fremragende film, det er autentisk, det er ægte. Sådan er det for mig nogle minutter inde i filmen, efter begravelsen, efter mødet med faren, det ubehagelige menneske, efter mødet med broren, denne mærkeligt uinteressante stakkel.
Det gamle ord anfægtelse falder mig ind, jeg er jo altså ikke rørt, bevæget, imponeret, overbevist, jeg er anfægtet af filmen, den bestrider det, som er mig, går imod min kultur, er hævet over min smag, indifferent over for min dannelse. Jeg mærker, tæppet skride under mine fødder. Filmen anfægter mig.
Verbet anfægte og substantivet anfægtelse, fortæller ordbogen, kommer af plattysk, altså nordtysk anvechten, som er sat sammen af an, som betyder til, og vechten, som betyder fægte imod. Anfægte og anfægtelse har i nudansk tre betydninger:
1) At kritisere og nægte gyldigheden af noget. For eksempel: ”Denne teori lader sig vanskeligt anfægte”. Eller advokatens ”vi anfægter retsgyldigheden af dette testamente”.
2) At påvirke på en ubehagelig måde. ”Jeg lader mig ikke anfægte af så lidt”
3) Og omvendt: at være anfægtet, det vil sige ængstet eller plaget, af tvivl. Det kan være at lide under religiøse eller moralske anfægtelser, det vil sige angreb af samvittighedsnag og tvivl. Og så vil jeg føje til, at man kan få kunstneriske anfægtelser, man kan anfægtes af et kunstværk, et maleri, en tekst, en film. Jeg tror, det kan være, hvad der er sket med mig.
Måske har jeg det med Sønderby Jepsens film, som Henrik har det med morfarens testamente. Han anfægter det, bestrider det. Den tyske advokat bruger ordet anfechten, men hun og Henrik får problemer med det: der er vist alligevel ikke grund til at bestride dets gyldighed. Henrik vender det i filmens afgørende erkendelse mod sig selv, han anfægtes.
Når jeg ser på Sønderby Jepsens værkrække bliver jeg klar over, at han vil skildre andre kulturer, ikke sin egen, eller måske derigennem sin egen, han begyndte med at lave en film om sin far og faderens nabo og deres livslange, aldrig bilagte strid og han vil lægge stoffet, han samler ind, frem uden direkte at kommentere det. Hans klip kommenterer heller ikke, han arbejder for eksempel ikke med den europæiske traditions juxtapositioner og personligt essayistiske metode, han organiserer stoffet som en dramatisk fortælling, som skrider forudsigelig frem efter den velkendte – og effektive – amerikanske model. Sønderby Jepsen tøver ikke, han er ikke i tvivl, tror jeg (som selv hele tiden er i tvivl) – han er ikke på noget tidspunkt i anfægtelse. Og han har lavet en enestående og fremragende film, så rigtig god fornøjelse. (ABN, introduktion på Den Skandinaviske Designhøjskole, 10. april 2013)
