CPH:CONFERENCERESET!
We were invited to contribute to the 2021 edition of CPH:CONFERENCE at CPH:DOX, one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals.
With a very daring scope for a documentary film conference, the five-day event held from a studio in Copenhagen, ended up hosting 80+ speakers from all over the world, making it the most in-depth curation work we ever had the pleasure of working on.
Thank you Documentary Campus for this opportunity!
Core THEMES
The suggestions by CPH:DOX revolved around present-day societal concerns, which are integral to non-fiction interests. This meant that we had to go far beyond specific topics in order to tackle a broader, societal view through a particular lense - the documentary film industry.
We articulated the five suggested themes around the guiding thought, title and keyword of the year: “RESET!”.
Each day represented one of the core-themes:
REBUILD: DEMOCRACY
REDISTRIBUTE: ECONOMY
REPRESENTATION: POWER
REBELLION:CLIMATE
RESILIENCE:CULTURE
Our aim was to create a program where society and politics would be mirrored to an industry who wants to generate an impact. Curating in these high-level spheres had us enquire into and understand better the actual complexities of societal questions, laser-focus or enlarge debates where needed and take into consideration other related issues to deliver a complete picture.
But how to handle a subject like “Democracy”? How to break down “Economy” into relevant questions for the industry and how to make it all interesting for an audience that goes beyond filmmakers?
The challenge was to pack these huge topics into actionable discussions in an online format with the time restriction of 3 hours per day, covering as much ground as possible while making sure not to end up with superficial content.
We worked closely with the team of CPH:DOX, amongst which Tine Fischer, founder and CEO of CPH:DOX, and Katrine Kiilgaard, Head of Industry, to curate a program where all topics were interlinked, helping us to actively rethink, renew and reset the inherent systems of the industry and to inspire a professional audience to take action.
We dedicated the final, interactive day to collaborative work and social change. We invited one tech company, one platform from the passion economy, one institution, and two collectives to concretely discuss next steps to move forward and reshape the film, media & arts industries while reframing the social order.
Take a Look
As we enjoy not only to curate, but also to present our program ourselves, AC - being a professional moderator - hosted the conference and moderated some selected formats. Watch the conference wrap-up,
or scroll further to check out our highlights and the program for each day.
REBUILD:
DEMOCRACY
How can audiovisual storytelling help to reclaim the digital public sphere by challenging disinformation, documenting injustices and lifting up marginalized voices?
REDISTRIBUTE:
ECONOMY
How can audiovisual media democratize debates around the future of our economies and help alternatives become a reality?
REPRESENTATION:
POWER
Who has the power to speak up and how
can they challenge discrimination along lines of race, ethnicity, class, gender, religion and disability?
REBELLION:
CLIMATE
How are storytellers leading in the fight for a global Green New Deal and can the calls
for action be more effective and at a bigger scale?
RESILIENCE:CULTURE
What strategies should be embraced to ensure true resilience for the arts and cultural sectors in a post-pandemic world?