Nordic distributors take stock as autumn brings a flood of festivals and releases

At this year’s TIFF Conference, during the Buyers in Focus session two Nordic distributors — Fidalgo’s Frank L. Stavik and NonStop Entertainment’s Jakob Abrahamsson — opened a candid conversation about what it means to keep independent cinema alive in a region both small and fiercely individualistic.

Their exchange sparked in me, as the moderator of the session, a need for a further reflection on the current Nordic distribution landscape: a market navigating packed release schedules, changing audience behaviour, and the delicate balance between arthouse daring and commercial viability.

From Oslo to Stockholm: independence as survival

Stavik, who co-founded Norway’s Fidalgo back in 1990, recalled how his company began almost by accident: buying Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys Go America, which unexpectedly drew 50,000 admissions. “We thought, ‘easy peasy’ — of course it wasn’t,” he laughed. More than three decades later, Fidalgo continues to “swim against the current”, preferring uncompromising auteur cinema over box-office sure bets.

“Our next releases include the Dardenne brothers’ Young Mothers (Jeunes mères), Bhutan’s I, the Song, and Finland’s Oscar contender 100 Litres of Gold (100 litraa sahtia),” Stavik said. “We probably shouldn’t still be alive, but we are.” His company has also lined up heavyweight auteurs — Laxe, Loznitsa, Bi Gan, Sorrentino, Ozon — through early 2026. The strategy remains stubbornly theatrical: “It’s still the old-school rollout that matters.”

Abrahamsson, meanwhile, has been steering Sweden’s NonStop Entertainment for 25 years, overseeing a catalogue that spans arthouse, genre, and heritage titles. “The joy of being independent is that if you really love something, you can buy it,” he said. This autumn, NonStop’s lineup stretches from Mats Strandberg adaptation The Home (Hemmet) to Venice breakout No Other Choice (Eojjeolsuga eobsda), Peter Hujar’s Day, A24’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and the queer leather romcom Pillion. “It’s strong and diverse,” Abrahamsson said. “Our challenge is to keep the momentum — to find joy in risk.”

While Stavik remains wary about engaging younger viewers (“We love our audience, but they are getting older”), Abrahamsson sees signs of renewal. Sweden’s Cinematheque, he noted, has reached its best attendance since the 1990s after revamping its communication. “They didn’t change the programming — just how they talked about films.”

Denmark: between saturation and renewal

Across the border, Danish distributors echo both optimism and fatigue. “This autumn is a bit of a bloodbath,” admitted Mikkel Lund of Angel Films. “Too many releases, not enough capacity.” For arthouse titles, he explained, the result is short theatrical windows — a problem for films relying on word-of-mouth and slower audience build-up.

The distributor’s autumn slate mixes family films such as Tafiti – Across the Desert and Animal Tales of Christmas Magic (Le grand Noël des animaux) with Jim Sheridan’s Small Things Like These. “We had a weak summer, especially for family titles,” Lund added. “Even major studio films underperformed — maybe we’re seeing a broader shift in behaviour.”

At Reel Pictures, CEO Mette Schramm described a cautious recovery: “The Danish market hasn’t yet completely bounced back after the pandemic, the Hollywood strike, and the streamer invasion. But the appetite for domestic films is improving.” Reel Pictures recently acquired Pillion — a title shared with NonStop — after discovering it in Cannes, underlining the continued importance of festivals “as places to find new acquisitions and to network”.

Meanwhile, Merete Christensen, COO and Head of Theatrical Distribution at Scanbox Entertainment, confirmed that local films remain central to their strategy across Scandinavia. The company’s packed line-up includes The Battle of Oslo (Blücher) in Norway, Hercules Falling (Hercules Falder) in Denmark, We Die Tonight (Vi dör i natt) in Sweden, and Elf (Tonttu) in Finland. “We’re seeing audiences favour original, acclaimed titles,” she noted. “But the main challenge is time — getting people to prioritise cinema over concerts, sports, and other events. Those are curated experiences; cinema needs to offer that same sense of occasion.”

Iceland: turning cinema into an experience

Few understand the value of the “occasion” better than Ása Baldursdóttir, Programme Director of Reykjavík’s independent hub Bíó Paradís, celebrating its 15th anniversary this autumn. “Audiences aren’t just showing up — they’re seeking magic,” she said. Her team recently hosted a “vacuum cleaner premiere” for Thai Cannes-winner A Useful Ghost (Pee chai dai ka), where guests were invited to bring their own vacuum cleaners.

This playfulness has helped Bíó Paradís reconnect with younger viewers, alongside hybrid models combining in-theatre events with its online platform, Heimabíó. The season’s slate includes Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi), Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident (یک تصادف ساده), and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto), alongside Icelandic documentaries and cult reissues. “Our audiences come for experiences, not just screenings,” Baldursdóttir said. “Cinema is evolving into something bigger than a screen — it’s a community.”

Lessons from a fragmented market

From Reykjavík to Stockholm, Nordic distributors are facing similar headwinds: overstuffed release calendars, rising costs, and the race to win back younger audiences. But their responses diverge. Fidalgo holds firm to the purity of theatrical release; NonStop expands across formats and genres; Danish players lean on diversification and local strength; and Bíó Paradís turns to immersive, event-driven programming.

There’s also a shared realisation that cooperation — across Nordic borders or within Creative Europe frameworks — remains underused. “The markets are too different,” said Stavik. “We share materials, yes, but release coordination is rare.” Yet new initiatives under the Films on the Move scheme are encouraging more joint campaigns and shared strategies.

Despite differences in scale and philosophy, one sentiment unites the region’s distributors: resilience. As Abrahamsson put it: “The world is longing for something tactile again — for togetherness. Cinema provides that. It’s not just about watching; it’s about feeling something together, in a room, in that moment.”