Vibrant, curious and engaged: awards and other highlights from the 2025 Nordisk Panorama

“If you’re nominated in the Best Nordic Documentary category, you know you made something really good. And you shouldn’t get your hopes up very high on winning anything, because the other entries are at least as good, if not better. They really use a fine-tooth comb in getting the best playing field.”

The above assessment comes from seasoned documentary doyen Magnus Gertten, whose output stretches over four decades and counts countless accolades received on the world festival arena. Still, he cherishes the trophy he got here for Nelly & Nadine (2022) more than most of the other ones, perhaps partly because it takes place in his own hometown, but mainly because of the competition.

Another evaluation of the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, “the annual flagship of Nordic documentaries and short films” – as per the festival’s own website – will remain unchallenged until further notice. Founded in 1990 as a mobile event and touring the five Nordic countries, it has since 2013 found a well-centred geographical hub in Malmö in southernmost Sweden, right at the foot of the Öresund bridge to Copenhagen, with a little over an hour’s flight from Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki, and only a little longer from Reykjavik.

From all these destinations, just about every major industry and institute player pours into town on an annual basis in order to attend the Forum for Co-Financing of Documentaries, where films like The Painter and the Thief (Kunstneren og tyven, 2020), Flee (Flugt, 2021), The Gullspång Miracle (Miraklet i Gullspång, 2023), and indeed Nelly & Nadine have been seen in various early stages.

2025 was no exception, with 300 professional attendees including 70 stakeholders from all across Europe and beyond, partaking in pitching sessions, panels, meetings – 630 according to the statistics – and networking events. All in all, 48 projects had been selected, 24 of them presented in the two-day pitch forum, with makers spanning from first feature directors to celebrated prize-winners to those somewhere in between.

Forum highlights include the Finnish Creaturama – Epic of the Animals, the result of director Juha Suonpää and his forest trail cameras observing and capturing any movement of any living being caught on frame, a process to which he has devoted seven years. Cameras are also in extreme focus in Life Through a Lens by Swedish director Andreas Eidhagen, exploring his famed countryman Lennart Nilsson’s pioneering achievements in the mid-1960s, photographing an embryo, which graced one of the best-selling issues of LIFE magazine of all time. The film goes behind the scenes of the iconic shoot, which at times resonates strongly in our current times of image manipulation.

Two Norwegian family stories are at the centre of Mystery Package (Mysteriepakken) and The Greatest Illusion (Den største illusjonen), both containing dark episodes, with the former being decidedly more cheery in tone. The mystery package in question has been sent to the Sandnes family in Valldal every Christmas now for 22 years, full of gifts for old and young and everyone, but never with an identified sender. One year the curiosity gets the better of the family, especially the younger members, and a proper detective activity is set into action. Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen also happens to be the mother of Edle and Brage, the two main detectives.

Eight years in the making and counting, The Greatest Illusion is the forthcoming work of Benjamin Ree, the director of the internationally greatly successful The Painter and the Thief and The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Ibelin, 2024). Here he presents the story of the world-renowned magician Alexx Alexxander, whose splendid career runs parallel to a family history of dark trauma, as his mother was killed, by his father, when he was 21. The film revisits the past, but also explores the present, coinciding with Alexx’s father’s release from prison and Alexx himself having to deal with issues he has long been suppressing.

Trauma is also part of The Palme Syndrome, by another director of great international success, Maria Fredriksson, the creator of The Gullspång Miracle. The official closure of sorts regarding the assassination of Swedish PM Olof Palme in 1986, presented in 2020 with a prime suspect disclosed, was greatly criticised by qualified experts and amateur conspiracy theorists alike. From the deep rabbit holes of the latter category, Fredriksson has compiled a colourful exposé, not without the occasional measurement of hilarity.

Two debut feature directors, Danish-Norwegian Christina Amundsen and Icelandic Elísabet Thoroddsen, both physically appear at the centre of their respective stories. In We Are Not Leaving, Amundsen gets up close and personal with her Ukrainian friends, the couple and filmmaking team Nat and Alex, who struggle to hold on to love, everyday life, and their artistic practice in the midst of war. Meanwhile in Iceland, the thirteen-women strong music ensemble Ukullellur, ranging between the ages of 30 and 70 and between a decent command of their instrument of choice, the ukulele, and a more rudimentary one, share the common denominator of all being queer. Thoroddsen, herself a fully-fledged thirteenth of the group, has documented the ensemble and its members both at home and on the road, as the group has become quite a success, performing at festivals across Europe, singing about queer life, stereotypes, discrimination, and resistance.

These and other forum projects were received with great interest and anticipation by many of the assembled industry representatives, and further development support should be imminent. Many or most of these projects aim to see the light of day 2026-28.

As for the festival programme, a usual line-up of fine-combed excellence met and was greeted by audiences as well as expert juries. The Tuesday night prize ceremony presented an even spread across all of the Nordic territories. The Best Nordic Documentary award went to the Danish-Spanish co-production Only on Earth, the second documentary after the equally ecology-themed From the Wild Sea, from artist-filmmaker Robin Petré. The NFTVF-supported Only on Earth premiered at Berlin, and takes the viewers to Southern Galicia and the wild horses whose lifestyle has prevented the area’s very dry land and flammable undergrowth from catching fire. Today, these horses are steadily declining in number, with serious consequences for the local nature.

The Best Short Award went to Iceland, to Rúnar Rúnarsson’s O, no small thanks to a memorable main performance by Ingvar Sigurdsson, also seen in Godland (Volaða land, 2022). The New Nordic Voice Award went to the animated Pay Day by Finland’s Päivi Hirsiaho. The Young Nordic Award was presented to the Norwegian Poor Me (Stakkars meg) by Liv Joelle Barbosa Blad, who won the national Norwegian Amanda for her previous short My Sister (Min søster, 2017). And to make that Nordic spread evenly perfect, the Swedish main production Yalla Parkour by Palestinian director Areeb Zuaiter received the City of Malmö’s Audience Award.

A Best Nordic Documentary Producer Award, given out since 2023 and thus far awarded to Sweden’s Stina Gardell (2023) and Denmark’s Sara Stockmann (2024) this year went to Iceland, to Hanna Björk Valsdóttir, whose CV includes Dreamland (Draumalandið, 2009), The Last Autumn (Síðasta Haustið, 2019), Dive: Rituals in Water (KAF, 2019), Bogancloch (2024), and The Ground Beneath Our Feet (Jörðin undir fótum okkar, 2025), who has been in the industry since 2008 and has run the production company Akkeri since 2015.

“I think my heart has always been in the documentary. I find them somehow more interesting. I think it's the unknown and the unexpected. I like to see how things evolve and be surprised, and I think you have more room in documentaries to discover something new,” said Valsdóttir, a regular Nordisk Panorama visitor since many years back, with rewarding encounters and productive networking along the way.

“It’s a really worthwhile event to attend for us Icelanders, and it’s very important to have this Nordic collaboration, because for us it's sometimes more difficult to get out there, getting to know people and spending time with them. I mean, we’re stuck in an island a bit further away from the rest of the Nordics. We really need to work on co-production, because funding in Iceland is very limited. At the same time, I'm also co-producing films from other countries. That's also very important to me. But it's both ways.”

The jury motivation for the 2025 award reads as follows: “This ambitious producer pushes creative boundaries while championing the directors the producer works with. We salute the producer’s long-standing commitment to artistic and visionary documentaries that attract international recognition. Making documentaries is never easy - and even less so under the conditions of the producer’s country - yet this committed professional persists with courage and artistry.”

As, by her own count, being one of relatively few “pure” documentary producers in Iceland, and one who has also lobbied quite regularly for better conditions for the genre in her home country, she especially took to the word “persist” in the above statement.

“I was so happy when I read the motivation, and touched. So yeah, I'm going to persist. Yes, definitely persist. And I also like what it says about the long-standing commitment to artistic and visionary documentaries, because I think the artistic side is very important. So I try to work on projects that have a strong artistic vision.”

Also happy is Nordisk Panorama’s executive director Heidi Christensen, who can observe growing audience numbers and sold out theatres.

“That has been a major focus for us: reaching out to new audiences, strengthening our promotion, and making sure we speak directly to both younger audiences and the local community with more material in Swedish. And it paid off. We are very proud of that achievement.”

Asked for any specific highlights, she’s surprisingly quick to pick an immediate choice:

“Sitting in a room full of fourth-graders during a film Q&A. Nordisk Panorama is deeply committed to the next generation - not only future filmmakers, but also children and young people having access to art and the chance to engage with current issues in a creative and emotional way. That is exactly what the medium of film is made for.”

“The kids were completely engaged - laughing, gasping, and watching with full concentration. During the Q&A, they asked smart, thoughtful, and often wonderfully serious questions. It was an absolute joy, and it gave me real hope that the younger generation is not lost to TikTok.”

As for the older generation of returning professionals, they are met with long-standing traditions, some with small or no change through the years.

“We are very proud of our forum concept. While many pitching events are exploring new formats, we continue to champion the ‘classic’ open, central pitch. Innovation is important, but we believe this format remains the most effective and impactful. Our role is to stand by the filmmakers - helping them secure financing and reach their audiences. Bringing everyone together in the same room creates focus, fosters commitment, and strengthens both the sense of community and the Nordic spirit.”

“Overall, the atmosphere has been fantastic - vibrant, curious, and engaged. Now we are happy, a little tired, and soon ready to start planning the 2026 edition.”