Nordisk Panorama announced July 22 the 52 documentary projects selected for Nordisk Panorama Forum (NPF) and Market (NPM). The selections were chosen from some 130 submissions.
The NP Forum (20–22 September, Malmö) is the annual meeting place and funding event for Nordic documentary professionals, looking to connect with a variety of Nordic and international documentary stakeholders from TV, film institutes and regional film funds.
The NP Market (18–22 September, Malmö) gathers international film festivals, distributors and buyers from all over the world to meet and get a comprehensive overview of the newest independently produced Nordic short and documentary films.
2026 selected Forum Projects
Organisers point out how the selection includes established filmmakers returning to Nordisk Panorama Forum, such as Michael Madsen with his new project The Ark. His Into Eternity (2010), pitched at NPF in 2007, was awarded the Nordic Documentary Award in 2010. Max Kestner, director of the award-winning Life and Other Problems (2024), will present his new project Living in the Shadow of the World We Could Have. Additionally, Swedish director Susanna Edwards is teaming up with producer Elin Kamlert to present her confidential new project. Phie Ambo and Rikke Tambo Andersen will collaborate once more on the climate story Caretaker, following the success of Fire, Water, Earth, Air (2026).
The selection also features acclaimed Nordic producers such as Nordic Documentary Producer Award winners Stina Gardell (2023) and Hanna Björk Valsdóttir (2025), as well as internationally renowned Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer of The Act of Killing (2012) and Ingvil Giske who was behind The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (2024).
Also presented in the selection are new emerging talents such as Faroese filmmaker Maria Tórgarð, who was the winner of the 2025 Nordic Talents Pitch Prize with the project Knots which she now presents at the NP Forum. Ömer Sami, director of the 2023 Oscar-shortlisted film Eternal Father, comes to the Work In Progress presentations with his new project True Scott.
Other selections within the Work In Progress category include the Finnish project Myllylä by directors Sean Ricks, Jussi Sandhu, Ville Hakonen and producer Pasi Hakkio (presented at NP Forum 2025) about the life of the famous eponymous skier, as well as the very personal story of the Palestinian director Mohammed Fares Al Majdalawi which he tells in Out of Place (presented at the NP Forum 2021).
Forum Pitch and Observer+ present a total of 46 projects this year while Work in Progress includes 6 projects.
Comments Lena Nitsch, Forum Manager: “This year’s Forum and Work In Progress selection, once again proves the remarkable scope and quality of contemporary Nordic documentary cinema. The projects show a range of experience from the deeply personal to the profoundly global while looking at their subjects through a critical lens and with commitment to democratic discourse.”
“Intimate human stories and investigative filmmaking are presented side by side, revealing the art of documentary filmmaking not only as a means of witnessing our own societies but also as a way of engaging with the complexities of an interconnected world beyond the Nordic region,” Nitsch adds.
Delegation in Focus
Every year, Nordisk Panorama Forum welcomes a delegation of producers from a guest territory to facilitate connections outside the Nordic countries. This year’s delegation comprises producers selected via the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE). Projects from the delegation have been selected to Nordisk Panorama Forum as well as to the Nordic Short Film Pitch. Furthermore the delegation of documentary producers will participate in the event Producers Meet Producers.
Pitch Projects (in alphabetical order)
- Birth Mothers (SE). Dir: Lasse Barkfors, Frida Barkfors. Prod: Frida Barkfors (De Andra)
- Caretaker (DK). Dir: Phie Ambo. Prod: Rikke Tambo Andersen & Sophie Elina Hahn (Tambo Film)
- Confidential Swedish Project (SE). Dir: Susanna Edwards. Prod: Elin Kamlert (Siren Film, Kamlert Film)
- Dr Hedgehog (DK). Dir: Peter Alsted. Prod: Birgitte Keseler & Katrine Dolmer (Elk Film)
- Electing Annbjørg (NO). Dir: Andreas Schille, Lene Bergersen. Prod: Andreas Schille (Følge Film)
- Featherlight [Finnish Wildcard] (FI). Dir: Mina Laamo. Prod: Mina Laamo & Sini Hormio (Koko Production)
- License to Clean (FI). Dir: Kasimir Högnäs. Prod: Outi Rousu & Markku Flink (Pystymetsä)
- Living in the Shadow of the World We Could Have (DK). Dir. Max Kestner. Prod.: Erlend Indseth (Mystery Film)
- Lost at Sea [Danish Wildcard] (DK). Dir.: Ejner Benedict Seidelin. Prod.: Claes Hedlund (Paloma Productions)
- Migration Solutions [Swedish Wildcard] (SE). Dir: Dennis Harvey. Prod: Elin Lilleman Eriksson (MDEMC)
- Monday All Year [Norwegian Wildcard] (NO). Dir.: Mats Muri. Prod: Ingvil Giske (Medieoperatørene)
- My Sister in Law, the Prime Minister (IS, NO, CZ, US). Dir: Lexi Leban. Prod.: Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir (Krumma Films). Co Prod.: Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas (Ten Thousand Images), Václav Flegl (Sounderground) & S. Leo Chiang (Walking Iris Media)
- No Friend but the Mountains (IR). Dir: Akra Makhabr, Yaser Talebi. Prod: Yaser Talebi (Sunrise Film). Collaborator: Setareh Lundgren (Meritis Film, SE)
- Oceancraft (FO) Dir: Jørgen Neshamar-Asmussen. Prod: Jón Hammer (Outlier Projects)
- Punklings (SE) Dir: Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin. Prod: Ina Holmqvist (Ballad Film)
- Rimmugýgur – Life of Modern Vikings [Icelandic Wildcard] (IS). Dir: Heimir Feyr Hlöðversson. Prod: Karolina Stefansdóttir (Rökkur Films)
- Roxana (NO). Dir: Espen Hofsmo, August Baugstø Hanssen. Prod: Silje Poulsen Viki (Indie Film)
- Sauna Finlandia (FI). Dir: Joonas Berghäll. Prod: Santeri Salminen & Joonas Berghäll (Oktober)
- See What I Say (LT, IT, UA). Dir: Arturas Jevdokimovas. Prod: Ringaile Lescinskiene (Zero Copy Reel). Co Prod: Ivannka Khitsinska (WAYA production), Giusi Santoro (POPCult)
- The Ark (DK, SE). Dir: Michael Madsen. Prod: Per Damgaard Hansen & Laura Elizabeth Ruiz Diaz (Paloma Productions)
- The Deep Front (FI, UK). Dir: Ari Matikainen. Prod: Ari Matikainen (Kinocompany). Co Prod: Ian Davies (Initialize Films)
- The Genealogy of Love (SE). Dir: Hanna Högstedt. Prod: Ami-Ro Sköld (Onoma Productions)
- The Road to Hollywood Seems Long in a Wheelchair (NO, SE). Dir: Stian Servoss & Benjamin Garciá Langeland. Prod: Thorvald Nielsen (Indie Film Bergen). Co-prod: HER Film
- Ville and the Phantom of Liberty (FI). Dir: Juho-Pekka Tanskanen. Prod: Juho-Pekka Tanskanen (Danish Bear Productions)
Observer+ Projects (in alphabetical order)
- 100 Days (NO) Dir: Mari Nielsen Neira. Prod: Mali Finborud Nøren (Herstory)
- A Cloud in Trousers (SE). Dir: Maryam Ebrahimi. Prod: Stina Gardell (Mantaray Film)
- A Dollhouse – This is Reality (DK). Dir: Olivia Maria Rus & Eva Marie Rødbro. Prod: Olivia Maria Rus & Eva Marie Rødbro (Lucky Cat Alliance)
- A Small Piece of Land (FI). Dir: Iiris Härmä. Prod: Visa Koiso-Kanttila (Guerilla Films)
- All of Me (NO). Dir: Christer Sev. Prod: Andreas Archer Dreyer & Camilla Vanebo (Herlig Film og TV)
- Benjamin & Angelica (NO). Dir: Fred Heggland & Morten Haslerud. Prod: Fred Heggland & Morten Haslerud (H2 Produksjoner)
- Cartas (SE, EE, DK). Dir: Juan Pablo Libossart. Prod: Mimmi Spång & Anna-Maria Kantarius (Garagefilm International). Co Prod: Ivo Felt (Allfilm) & Monica Hellström (Ström Pictures)
- Confidential Stray Dogs Project (NO). Dir: Confidential. Prod: KriStine Ann Skaret & Sarah Winge-Sørensen (Stray Dogs Productions Norway)
- Disobedient (DK). Dir: Emil Nørgaard Munk. Prod: Rikke Tambo Andersen & Sophie Elina Hahn (Tambo Film)
- El Mijis (SE). Dir: Adriano Mérola Marotta. Prod: Margarete Jangård, Hanna Markkanen & Fredrik Gertten (WG Film)
- Firing Line (UA, SE, LT). Dir: Olga Gibelinda. Prod: Olga Gibelinda (Malanka Studios). Co Prod: Common Ground Pictures, Film Jam
- Garden of Anna (LT, IN). Dir: Kristine Briede. Prod: Kristine Briede (Vino Films). Co Prod: Rajani Mani (Elephant Corridor Films)
- I Should Be Happy (NO). Dir: Bente Johanne Moe. Prod: Elise Søftland Iversen & Trude Refsahl (Fotspor Film)
- Just a Regular Muslim (FI, EE). Dir: Karoliina Lahti. Prod: Karoliina Lahti (Purple Orange). Co Prod: Serj Rimma (Lilla Oranź)
- King Diamond (DK, IS, NO, CZ). Dir.: Frederik Brun Madsen. Prod: Peter Engel (Wingman Media). Co Prod: Christian Aune Falch (UpNorth Film), Hanna Björk Valsdóttir (Akkeri Films) & Tereza Šimíková (Caliber Pictures)
- Knots (FO, SE). Dir: Maria Tórgarð. Prod: Gustav Ahnelöv & Maria Tórgarð (ÍMYND film). Co Prod: Lars G. Lindström (Fellonica Film)
- Mystery Eel (DK). Dir: Peter Hammer. Prod: Emil Johnsen (GotFat Productions). Co Prod: Lars Rønnow Torp (Thin Green Line Productions)
- QIMMEQ – Howl Into the Future (FI). Dir: Kira Jääskeläinen. Prod: Oona Saari (Illume)
- The Animal That Laughs (IS). Dir: Ágúst Bent Sigbertsson. Prod: Magnea Helgadóttir & Ágúst Bent Sigbertsson (Bentlehem)
- The Box of Memory (SE). Dir: Nima Sarvestani. Prod: Nima Sarvestani & Leo Gilliland (Nimafilm)
- The Heath (IS). Dir: Jessica Auer. Prod: Hanna Björk Valsdóttir (Akkeri Films)
- Tunnel Visions (DK). Dir: Anders Skovbjerg Jepsen. Prod: Alberte Lyngbo & Signe Byrge Sørensen (Final Cut for Real)
Selected Work In Progress Projects (in alphabetical order)
- An Unlikely Hero (DK). Dir.: Lars Henrik Ostenfeld. Prod: Signe Skov Thomsen & Malene Flindt Pedersen (Hansen & Pedersen)
- Holding On (NO). Dir: Tone Grøttjord-Glenne. Prod: Anita Rehoff Larsen (Sant & Usant)
- Myllylä (FI, SE, NO). Dir: Sean Ricks, Jussi Sandhu & Ville Hakonen. Prod: Pasi Hakkio (Wacky Tie Films). Co Prod: Story, (fx) produksjoner
- Out of Place (SE, NO). Dir: Mohammed Fares Al Majdalawi. Prod: Manolo Diaz Rämö & Mónica Hernández Rejón (Filmilia). Co Prod.: Thorvald Nilsen (Indie Film Bergen)
- The Days I Will Forget (SE, FI, NO). Dir: Morgane Dziurla-Petit. Prod: Paul Blomgren (GötaFilm). Co Prod: Greenlit Productions, Integral Film og Litteratur
- True Scott (DK). Dir: Ömer Sami. Prod: Monica Hellström (Ström Pictures). Co Prod: Maria Robstad Nielsen (Emjay Productions)
