DR Sales represents six competition titles at CPH:DOX

Praying for Armageddon which screens March 20 at CPH:DOX, is a docu political thriller which explores the dangerous infiltration of the US fundamentalist Evangelicals in the US political system.

The director of Drone and iHuman acclaim Tonje Hessen Schei, who directed Praying for Armageddon with Michael Rowley, said she has worked on the film for eight years. “We have followed the fundamental evangelical Christians in the USA, from grassroots level to megachurch empires and all the way into the White House, where we met Donald Trump's religious advisor.”

The film was produced by Norway’s UpNorth Film, in co-production with Sweden’s Auto Images, Finland’s Making Movies and Germany’s Ventana Film, support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The film has also been selected for Hot Docs’ Special Presentations. It will premiere in Norway in the fall.

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Two other DR Sales titles are competing in the F:ACT programme:

• The Hostage Takers co-directed by Puk Damsgaard and Søren Klovborg, features the astounding and eerie interview of British journalist Sean Langan with two life-sentenced British ISIS members, who were involved in the brutal execution of Langan’s friend-US war correspondent James Foley. The film produced by Søren Klovborg for DR is also selected for the Krakow Film Festival and Movies That Matter.
• Bagdad on Fire directed by Iraqi-born Karrar Al-Azzawi, is the hopeful portrayal of Iraqi’s youth fighting for democracy, through the story of Tiba (19) and her friends Khader and Yousif. The three courageous youngsters have set up a medical team to treat and help their counterparts, injured during their anti-government protests.
  The Norwegian/Iraqi film was produced by Nefise Özkal Lorentzen and Jørgen Lorentzen of Norway’s Integral Film.
  The Screenings on March 20 coincides with the 20^th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Meanwhile Soviet Bus Stop selected for the Nordic:Dox competition section had its world premiere March 19 in Copenhagen. The Danish/Canadian film is director Kristoffer Hegnsvad’s 50,000 km road trip with Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig, as the latter captures the architectural and artistic gems of bus stops across the former Soviet Republics, from Ukraine to Uzbekistan, Armenia to Far Eastern Siberia. The tribute to the power of creativity challenging war-torn or conflict zones, was produced by the director with Ian Toews, Christopher Herwig and Nicholas Zajicek. The film has also been selected for Docville.

The Danish:Dox competition entry It’s Always Been Me by Danish director Julie Bezerra Madsen (Boy) is the timely gender-centered story of Max who was born a girl, but has come out as a transgender boy, and Bastian, born a boy, who feels more like a girl. The film was produced by Got Fat Productions’s Puk Lodahl Eisenhardt.

The film Remains by Linus Mørk (DNA Detektiven) which world premieres at the Science:Dox section, follows Danish professor Eske Willerslev who tries to find out about the first Americans through the study of DNA traces of 10,000 year-old bones. The professor spent 10 years travelling around the US to study the genomic data and what it can tell us about the early humans. He encounters indigenous tribes, fighting for their ancestors to be reburied. The film was produced by Stine Boe Jensen.

Commenting on CPH:DOX’s key spot in the world documentary platforms and on his priorities at the festival and adjoining market CPH:FORUM, DR Sales’ executive producer Kim Christiansen said: “CPH:DOX has become among our top three events priorities during the whole year. Our priorities are to meet as many international guests as possible, to oversee projects we’re already involved in at The Forum, to scout new projects and talents at CPH:FORUM, to push our six films we have premiering at the festival for sales, festivals and local distribution.

Quizzed on buyers’ behaviour, he said: “Public broadcasters are steady, streamers seem to have halted-or maybe they have just become obsessed with Prince Harry and Jeffrey Epstein, which are themes that are NOT part of our line-up.”

Among DR Sales’ recent high profile documentaries are Miki Mistrati’s The Chocolate War and Julie Bezerra Madsen’s All That Remains to Be Seen, which competed at last year’s CPH:DOX.