Nordisk Panorama presents its full 2026 line-up

17-22 September in Malmö, Sweden, is the timeline for the 37th edition of the Nordisk Panorama short and documentary film festival. Over the years, it’s become an established gathering place for Nordic as well as international film professionals, many of whom are certain to save their dates, especially for the forum part of the event.

A programme flagship is the Best Nordic Documentary competition, covering all five of the main Nordic territories. Finland takes the forefront, fully or partly involved in six of the twelve entries this year, several picked from the major documentary festivals in Tampere, Thessaloniki and Copenhagen’s CPH:DOX. Highlights include 8000: An Art Odyssey (Anssi Kasitonnin maailma, Finland) by Sami Sänpäkkilä, In Cod We Trust (Norway/Finland) by Guro Saniola Bjerk, Island Nation (Eyríki, Iceland) by Nikolai Galitzine, The Smuggler (Smugglaren, Sweden/Finland) by Sylvelin Måkestad, The Secret Reading Club of Kabul (Finland/Norway) by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen, and This Is Not an Apple (Dette er ikke et eple; Norway) by Nefise Özkal Lorentzen, the last-named also one of the festival’s world premieres.

For the New Nordic Voice competition, introducing “promising Nordic filmmakers whose work are among their first releases or filmmakers who have shifted their filmmaking format”, 15 fiction, documentary, animation or “experimental” titles are entered, with Denmark, Norway and Sweden providing four titles each. We also find a Faroe Islands documentary, Búi Egason Dam’s Birita, which is also nominated for the 2026 Nordic Council Film Prize. Among the other titles are Julius von Kauffmann’s Aftertime (Afsoning, Denmark), Malin Barr’s Sauna Sickness (Sweden), Freyja Kristinsdóttir’s Postcards (Póstkort, Iceland) and Jasmin Gummerus’ Limerence (Limerenssi, Finland).

19 entries make up the Best Nordic Short Film competition, with Sweden representing six of them, including Maria Tórgarð’s Mother Creature (Mammuskepilsið), co-produced with the Faroe Islands. Other titles include A Glimpse of Paradise (Häivähdys paratiisia, Finland) by Perttu Inkilä, A Real Swedish Midsommar (Myggor & salta pinnar, Sweden) by Ville Gobi, Take Care (Er du trygg?, Norway) by Signe Rosenlund-Hauglid, Hold It Together (Sundruð), Iceland/France/Belgium) by Fan Sissoko, Weekend Warrior by Simon Vahlne (Sweden), and Another February (Februar igen, Denmark) by Tobias Ervolder.

Winners will receive both honours and cash prizes – €11,000 for Best Documentary, €5,000 for New Nordic Voice and €5,000 plus and Oscar submission for Best Short. The appointed juries consist of Danish director Robin Petré, winner of last year’s Best Nordic Documentary Award for Only on Earth (2025); Steven Artels, Head of the Documentary Unit at Radio Télévision Suisse; and EURODOC Program Director Nora Phillipe for Best Nordic Documentary, Marketing Producer & Strategic Publicist Kathleen McInnis; Finnish visual artist and animator Päivi Hirsiaho; and Sigrid Hadenius, Festival Director at Uppsala Short Film Festival, for New Nordic Voices, and Nela Zielinska of New Europe Film Sales, Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson and director/programmer Miguel Dias of Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival for Best Nordic Short Film.

The competition strands are completed with the Young Nordic competition and the special Nordic Documentary Producer Award. The nominees for the latter are: Helle Faber, Denmark; Juha Löppönen, Finland; Kristín Andrea Þórðardóttir, Iceland; Elisabeth Kleppe, Norway; and Elin Kamlert, Sweden.

The Nordisk Panorama Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries, with the mission of bringing Nordic documentary projects to the attention of international stakeholders from broadcasters, film institutes, regional film funds and sales companies, will this year present 24 new projects, pitched to more than 70 attendees. 23 Observer+ projects will also be presented, through individual meetings between project teams and decision-makers.

Additionally, six upcoming documentaries will be presented as Work-in-Progress. The Nordic Short Film Pitch introduces ten Nordic and two delegation projects, there will be closed market screenings of new Nordic shorts and expert roundtables, and one-to-one meetings for further and deeper connections. As always, “The Elevator Pitch”, a cherished, at times feared, Nordisk Panorama staple, is back in full effect – 30 seconds for a filmmaker to pitch an idea on the way up, followed by 30 seconds of feedback on the way down. Those who’ve frequented the Scandic Triangeln festival centre will know the drill.

The Forum also includes a specially invited delegation in partnership with the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE), bringing selected producers from outside the Nordic countries to Malmö, and creating new opportunities for international co-production. The Producers Meet Producers initiative returns with focused networking, co-production insights and roundtable discussions “designed to help producers meet potential future partners”. The special Nordisk Immersive Media Days returns for two days dedicated to the space where film meets XR, VR, AR and emerging media. Five Nordic projects in development have been selected for this event.

True to tradition is also the Town Hall summit, where – quite literally – everybody who is who in this particular field fills a sizeable locale in order to address a pressing and passionate topic. This year’s headline reads “Where is the Nordic Documentary Market Heading?”, and will scrutinise the current funding and distribution landscape and the state of financing from broadcasters, film institutes and film funds, currently going through some substantial changes. Moderator is Ove Rishøj Jensen, Documentary Advisor at Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the co-organiser of this event since 2021. The 2026 Nordisk Panorama Town Hall date is 20 September.

Present talent also includes producer Siri Hjorton Wagner, Anne Gaschütz of Filmfest Dresden, and the Locarno Film Festival selection committee and immersive experts Michel Reilhac and Federico Anselmi, who will all partake in panels and/or stage talks. Oscar-winning producer Helle Faber and awards strategist Joanna Solecka will dive deep into the international campaign behind Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025), and Rúnar Rúnarsson will set out on “A Short Film Journey”, looking back at the short films that have shaped his career, from the Academy Award-nominated The Last Farm (Síðasti bærinn, 2004) to O (2024). Representatives from ARTE will introduce the new ARTE European Talent Development Award, presented for the first time at Nordisk Panorama, alongside a conversation about the European cultural platform’s ambitions for Nordic talent.

The Nordisk Panorama Forum takes place 20-22 September.

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