CPH:LAB is a development programme organized by CPH:DOX – the international documentary film festival in Copenhagen, one of the biggest documentary film festivals in the world.

The lab is conceived as an incubator for documentary projects that seek to explore the potential of digital technologies and advance new visions of what a documentary can be in a digital age.

As a response to the current global situation caused by the pandemic, CPH:LAB 2020/2021 solicits submissions on the specific subject of Protopia, under the banner Another World Is Possible. Protopia is a proactive bridge from our current state to an improved, realistic society, rather than a perfect, idealized one.

Around 15 participants will be chosen to develop 6 interactive documentary projects. The first part of CPH:LAB is a continuous online development and production workshop for lab participants and mentors taking place over four months from mid-September 2020 to mid-January 2021. For the second part of the program, the participants will be invited to attend the CPH:DOX in Copenhagen from March 23-25, 2021. Here, they will have access to all conferences and film screenings, as well as the chance to network with people in the industry. The projects made within CPH:LAB will be presented for the first time within the festival.

The participation is free of charge including transportation, accommodation and meals during the residential workshop, as well as accreditation to CPH:DOX 2021.

CPH:LAB is for filmmakers, storytellers and creative technologists who are eager to work on an interactive project between documentary and technologies. Those wishing to apply must be available throughout the online course, as well as for the festival in Copenhagen.

A main criteria for selection will be the artistic quality of the project, the uniqueness of the content, the relevance of the subject matter, the originality of the storytelling format, and the estimated potential for the project to reach audiences internationally.

Once the 6 projects have been chosen, for each project a core creative team of two (or three, if the presence of a third member is required) must attend all sessions of CPH:LAB 2020-2021 and be able to commit to the process.

During the four months, the CPH:LAB experts will help teams develop their story and complete production, by providing support in finding and developing platforms through which the project can be produced, in emphasizing its impact on the contemporary world and its distribution, digital and physical.

Entries are open until June 28, 2020 and the selected participants will be announced in August 2020. For more details and the application process, visit the CPH:DOX website.

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.