CPH:DOX has revealed the core of its 2026 competition programme ahead of the full festival lineup announcement on 18 February. The Copenhagen documentary festival returns for its 23rd edition from 11–22 March 2026, and this year’s competition selection spans 74 titles drawn from thousands of submissions worldwide. The slate includes 53 world premieres, 17 international premieres and four European premieres.

The programme is structured around six juried competition strands, alongside a €10,000 Audience Award sponsored by DR. The flagship DOX:AWARD, backed by Politiken Fonden, carries a €10,000 prize and consists of 12 feature documentaries, all premiering as world premieres. Five additional sections each award €5,000, designed to reflect different documentary approaches and audiences: F:ACT (positioned at the intersection of film and investigative journalism, supported by International Media Support and the Danish Union of Journalists), HUMAN:RIGHTS (sponsored by the Danish Institute for Human Rights), NEW:VISION, NEXT:WAVE and NORDIC:DOX.

A notable addition this year is a new FIPRESCI prize, with all 12 DOX:AWARD titles eligible. The festival will also screen a selection of films nominated for the 2026 Doc Alliance Award, via the seven-festival Doc Alliance network.

Across the competitions, the lineup blends geopolitical reporting, formal experimentation and regional storytelling. DOX:AWARD world premieres include A Song Without Home, Amazomania, Christiania, and Something Familiar (a Romania–UK production). In HUMAN:RIGHTS, titles include Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie from Alex Gibney, alongside Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me and The Phantom Pain of Rojava. In NEW:VISION, the programme features Phantoms from Apichatpong Weerasethakul among other artist-led works.

Find the complete CPH:DOX copetition titles – HERE