Twelve upcoming filmmakers from four Nordic countries will take the stage at the Danish Film School on September 10 to pitch their first professional project to industry delegates and a international jury.

This year, over 60 graduating film students applied to pitch their first professional projects at Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s popular industry event Nordic Talents, which once again takes place at the National Film School of Denmark. The applying students were graduating bachelor or master students from eleven universities (or similar) across the Nordics.

Norwegian and Danish film students graduate every other year with bachelor or master degrees. No Danish students graduated on the required exam level this round, but their representation was strong in 2025, and is likely to be so again in 2027. On the other hand, among the 2026 applicants were Nordic students from German and British film universities.

Most of the projects submitted this year were for fiction films (live-action), while the number of applications for documentary projects was smaller than previous years. Out of 56 applications, a pan-Nordic selection committee has selected eight fiction and two documentaries to be pitched.

The finalists will meet the Nordic professional industry on stage and compete for NFTVF’s Nordic Talents Pitch Prize (NOK 250,000) and the Special Mention (NOK 50,000), which is a development support for the upcoming talents’ first professional projects. All finalists are invited, with travel expenses paid, not only to the pitching session, but to the event’s industry afternoon and to a pitch training by Valeria Richer (DK) and Paul Taylor (UK).

During the main event on Sept 10, the international jury will hand out the awards to two promising new projects. In 2026 the jury has six members: creator, scriptwriter and playwright David Farr (UK), documentary producer Helle Faber (DK), fiction producer Synnøve Hørsdal (NO), actor-writer Aníta Briem (IS), MTV’s Commissioning Manager Janne Vakio (FI), and Head of TV Drama Vision at Göteborg Film Festival Cia Edström (SE). Each pitch is followed by an on-stage conversation with the jury, moderated by NFTVF’s documentary advisor Ove Rishøj Jensen and fiction advisor Cecilie Aspenes.

Nordic and international professionals and upcoming filmmakers are welcome to attend the event in Copenhagen for free, but a registration is needed. Registration is open until September 3 or until the event is fully booked. To be sure to get a place, please register in advance: CLICK HERE.

The NT 26 programme will be published on nftvf.com and nordictalents.com in August.

The ten carefully selected projects will be pitched September 10 at the Danish Film School, in the same order as they are presented below. The finalists’ graduation films will be screened on September 9. Online screening links will be provided to all registered delegates.

The projects/pitchers of 2026:

  • The Whores
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director/scriptwriter Clara Vida (SE)
    School: The Norwegian Film School - University of Inland Norway
    Pitch: Pusher meets Pretty Woman in this raw, hardcore coming-of-age story about freedom, happiness, and finding love — for yourself and others. Set in Helsingborg, Helsingør, and Copenhagen, and on the ferries moving between them, Agnes and Amina navigate the sexselling-industry while searching for belonging in a chaotic and deeply delusional world.
  • Memorial
    Category: Documentary
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director/animator Lova Nygren (SE)
    School: The Norwegian Film School - University of Inland Norway
    Pitch: Memorial is a personal documentary animation film about my own story with pregnancy and miscarriage. In the film, I will describe my difficult short pregnancy journey, which was riddled with sickness and nausea. I will also interview four other women about their different experiences of pregnancy. With this film I want to normalise the topic of miscarriage and abortion.
  • TJ28
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director Yasmin Najjar (FI)
    School: Aalto ELO
    Pitch: Amani Lillak (19) is a Finnish-Palestinian woman completing her voluntary military service in the Finnish Defence Forces. While Lillak’s father’s family lives in Palestine amid a violent crisis, she is in the Finnish army, training to kill. Lillak wants to escape the burden of her background by blending in.
  • Harmless
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director Kristin Heien (NO), cinematographer Jakob Skjerning Linneberg (NO)
    School: The Norwegian Film School - University of Inland Norway
    Pitch: Daniel is convicted of repeated violence. His whole life he has survived by threatening to harm people. Now he must convince the court he is harmless. Malin is a well-respected prison officer who knows how to handle challenging inmates. She bends the rules with good intentions. But where do you draw the line between harmless and irresponsible?
  • In Between
    Category: Documentary
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director Jakob Hardeberg (NO)
    School: The Norwegian Film School - University of Inland Norway
    Pitch: In In Between we meet 16-year-olds Billie, Angelo and Erik as they find themselves in between childhood and adulthood. The film explores how they come to understand themselves through the small moments in which life happens, before they are fully able to put it into words. In Between is a portrait of youth - a film about intimacy, friendship, and all that makes adolescence both intense and timeless.
  • Be Better
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Series
    Pitched by: Director Hanna Hulda Hafþórsdóttir (IS), producer Álfheiður Richter (IS)
    School: Iceland University of Arts
    Pitch: Be Better is a six-episode dramedy about Alfreð, a middle-aged man who recently left his successful career at a law firm to coach a high school trivia team. His goal is to finally become the winner of the broadcast trivia competition Gettu betur, a title he narrowly missed three times in a row during his own high school years.
  • The End of August
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director/scriptwriter Erik Lysåker (NO)
    School: The Norwegian Film School - University of Inland Norway
    Pitch: After graduating from high school, August, a young man with a disability, feels increasingly left behind in his hometown. That summer he meets Johanne, and for the first time experiences intimacy and love. But as the summer comes to an end, he is forced to confront his fear of being a burden, and unworthy of love.
  • Exchange
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director Roosa Vuokkola (FI)
    School: Aalto ELO
    Pitch: Exchange is a coming-of-rage story about Aura, an 18 year old roller derby player, who goes to Spain as an exchange student. While Aura struggles to adapt abroad, Ana – a charismatic Spanish girl her age – begins to take over Aura's place in Finland. Gradually Aura's fear of being replaced grows into an obsession that erodes her identity and leads to irreversible change.
  • Maria
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Director Nadja Josephson (SE)
    School: HDK-Valand, Göteborg
    Pitch: Maria is a body miracle film about belief and finding purpose in everyday life. This is the sacred story of Maria, a 47 year old subway ticket controller who discovers she is pregnant. Even though she is a virgin. When 27 year old ex-addict Viktor suggests that the thing in her belly could be the Messiah, they set out on a journey towards salvation together. Maybe they will finally be useful?
  • Blossom
    Category: Fiction
    Format: Film
    Pitched by: Scriptwriter Helga Springgard (NO)
    School: The Norwegian Film School - University of Inland Norway
    Pitch: Ågot wants to live in harmony with nature, far away from other people. But when nature impregnates her against her will, she is forced to confront her own human nature.