The world premiere of Danish documentary Life And Other Problems will open the 2024 Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX) on March 12.
Max Kestner’s film will play as the opening gala at the Conservatory’s Concert Hall in Copenhagen, with Kestner and several subjects from the film in attendance. It will also compete in the festival’s main Dox:Award section
Kestner’s film uses the death of a giraffe in a Copenhagen zoo 10 years ago as a jumping off point for existential questions about the nature of life, consciousness, love and connections. Subjects in the film include scientists Charles Foster and Eske Willerslev.
Niklas Engstrom, CPH:DOX artistic director, described the film as “an eternally relevant story about the value of life and the quest to make sense of one’s own – and all of our – existence.”
“I imagine that we can choose between two views of life. One sees life as predictable and our actions as predetermined. The other sees life as unpredictable, precisely because our choices are not predetermined, but influenced by our consciousness, our experience of being ourselves,” said Danish filmmaker Kestner. “The film is in pursuit of the latter. It is a treasure hunt, a search for hope that our actions are always full of meaning.”
Kestner specialises in documentaries about the human condition, from his 2002 debut Blue Collar White Christmas, through 2021’s Little Galaxies, which also debuted at CPH:DOX.
The 21st edition of CPH:DOX will run from March 13-24. The full programme will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
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