We have articulated the DOGMA25 in the hope of inspiring filmmakers across the world to work against the cinematic art being reduced to simply a product.
Part of this is challenging our own process by downsizing the production to ensure that everyone on the team has a close connection to the film and its message. With the vows, we invite you to reconsider and challenge the system — as well as yourself — and in your own reading of the vows, create a process and a film that after one year can obtain a certificate. Or maybe you simply find inspiration in the challenge to your process — in both cases, we hope this will lead to new and inspiring results in the coming years.
The motivation to create the new DOGMA has arisen from witnessing an increasingly unhealthy and unsustainable industry. As part of the certification process, we have therefore made it mandatory to follow the work environment and union standards of the production country (where applicable), and for a production house to be connected to the project to lift this responsibility. Where none apply, we hope you will consider this and include it in your evaluation.
Additionally, we find the lifecycle of the film essential for our industry. Upon completion of the film, we therefore ask for a description of how its distribution is secured and with which partners. In a new world, this can take many shapes and forms.
After 10 months, you are required to make a first delivery on the platform, and after 12 months, the delivery of the final result and evaluation. The technical specifications can be found here.
Once you register using the link above, the countdown will begin.
We wish you a good journey.
DOGMA 25 is a collective of filmmakers founded in Copenhagen in the spring of 2025. Our stated purpose is to preserve the originality of cinema and the opportunity to create film on its own terms.
The role of the director has increasingly been reduced to that of project manager, the film to a commodity, and the audience to consumers. Experimental practice is stifled by fear of risk-taking, which suffocates artistic exploration and silences unique voices. When films are merely executed and not allowed to evolve organically, it puts the art form in danger of becoming functional, obedient and thereby irrelevant.
In a world where formulaic films based on algorithms and artificial visual expression are gaining traction, it’s our mission to stand up for the flawed, distinct, and human imprint. We champion the uncompromising and unpredictable and we fight the forces working to reduce cinematic art to an ultra-processed consumer good.
By scaling down production, we ensure that everyone on the team has an intimate relationship with the film and its message. This will enhance mutual trust and a sense of collective responsibility for the film and for each other. It also allows us to safeguard the flexibility that is vital in making a creative process dynamic and intuitive, rather than purely executive.
We celebrate DOGMA 95, all the filmmakers who came before us, and those who will come after. We stand together to defend artistic freedom as a shield against pointlessness and powerlessness. DOGMA 25 is a rescue mission and a cultural uprising.
To protect and preserve what we hold dear, we hereby submit to the unflinching and unbreakable set of rules called: THE VOW OF CHASTITY.
I vow to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by DOGMA 25:
Copenhagen, 11th May 2025
