CPH:DOX – Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival – is one of the largest documentary film festivals in the world. I love documentaries so for me this is the perfect festival. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by the program…so many good movies, so little time. But after a few hours of research and planning, I found my favourites.

These are the films we will be seeing at this year’s CPH:DOX:

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
Vivienne according to Westwood. The ultimate film about one of the modern fashion world’s most innovative and colourful personalities. Westwood is an avant-garde artist, for whom clothes are more than style, and with her eco-activist agenda, she remains at the forefront of the industry after 40 years.

 

Studio 54
Sex, drugs and disco! The wild story about the rise and fall of the world’s most legendary nightclub, told by one of its owners, Ian Shrager. this is the wild story of the rise and fall of the world’s most legendary night club, which is here presented by Shrager himself. But it is also a story of a short, hopeful period between the sexual revolution and the outbreak of AIDS, where people who didn’t fit the norm could suddenly step out and become a party’s focal point. If I could travel back in time, I would go to Studio 54! This is as close as I can get I guess.

 

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami
Pull up to the bumper, baby! 10 years in the life of the ultimate diva – as singer, supermodel, style-icon and as the human being behind the superstar. One of the greatest style icons of our times who since the 1980s has reigned supreme as both a singer and a supermodel – and who still lets it all out like she was 22, even though she is turning 70 this year. But who is the person behind the mask of makeup?

Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.
From Tamil refugee to activist pop star. One of this year’s best music films is told by the frontwoman of M.I.A.. In a combination of M.I.A.’s own video footage, which spans several decades, and newer material, we are given a unique look at the strong, sensitive and activistic person Matangi behind the superstar M.I.A. while she is up against the hysteria of pop culture, the media machine and endless political agendas. One of this year’s best music films.

 

The Gospel According to Andre
The world of fashion according to the legendary Vogue editor André Leon Talley. Decades of experience from the New York jet set condensed to a wildly entertaining, straightforward and honest film told with a glint in the eye. A real insider’s guide to a world that is typically closed off for the rest of us.

 

Blue
The fluid ecosystems of the blue planet are the subject of a beautiful, disquieting investigation. More than half of all marine life has disappeared in the last 40 years. In 2050, there will be as much plastic as there is fish in the oceans. It has become evident that the oceans work in different ways than we assumed a hundred years ago, where the ocean was seen as a place of unlimited resources and a garbage dump immune to change and regression. ‘Blue’ is more than a picturesque and beautiful film about the world’s oceans as we thought we knew them.


During the eleven days of the festival, CPH:DOX also presents concerts, art exhibitions, five whole days of professional seminarsa screening market, and the international financing and co-production event CPH:FORUM, as well as the film production program CPH:LAB and much more. There is something for everyone!

Check out the full program here