The 2021 Festival in Review

Creating Nordisk Panorama Film Festival 2021 has been an adventure that turned out better than anyone of us could wish for.

During six days in September we gathered filmmakers from all of the Nordic countries to screen their films for an excited audience! Decision makers, commissioners, producers and directors from all over the world took part in our market, forum, meetings and networking opportunities.

A great mix of people from Malmö and from the international film industry enjoyed our film screenings, master classes and seminars. We actually broke our all time ticket sales record – it seems like people have been hungry for culture experiences.

The 32nd edition gathered an audience of more than 18.700 for our events in Malmö despite capacity restrictions at all venues. In addition, our industry events attracted over 800 accredited filmmakers and decision-makers from all over the world.

We would like to thank all of you who participated in this year’s festival, and we really hope to see you in Malmö again next year!

See our festival recap video here!

The Winners

On Tuesday 21 September the winning films at Nordisk Panorama Film Festival 2021 were announced at our award ceremony at Malmö City Hall. Of the total of 63 nominated Nordic documentaries and short films, the jury members chose, and the audience voted, for winners in five competition sections.

Best Nordic Documentary
Aboli’s Journey by Yasaman Sharifmanesh, Sweden, 2021.
Cash prize: 11.000€
Sponsored by the Nordic public broadcasters DR, NRK, RUV, SVT and YLE.

Best Nordic Short Film
The Night Train by Jerry Carlsson, Sweden/France, 2020.
Cash prize: 5.000€
Sponsored by the Danish Film Directors and the Swedish Film Directors.

Honorable Mention – Best Nordic Short Film
Nights and Days in July by Jana Bringlöv Ekspong, Sweden, 2021

New Nordic Voice Award
Skál by Cecilie Debell & Maria Tórgarð, Denmark/Faroe Islands, 2021.
Cash prize: 5.000€
Sponsored by Film i Skåne and AVEK.

Honorable Mention x 2 – New Nordic Voice Award
Fly So Far by Celina Escher, Sweden, 2021.
Young & Afraid by Sverre Kvamme & Petter Aaberg, Norway/Denmark, 2021.

Young Nordic – Children’s Choice Award
Stories from the Shower by Teresia Fant, Norway, 2021.
Cash prize: 1.500€
Sponsored by Nordisk Panorama Film Festival.

The City of Malmö’s Audience Award
Flee by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark, 2021.
Cash prize: 2.500€
Sponsored by the City of Malmö.

Read more about the winners and the motivations on our website.

The Forum 2021

346 film professionals attended the hybrid 28th edition of Nordisk Panorama Forum. 24 projects pitched to 95 decision-makers and a total of 48 projects were presented in the more than 670 one-to-one meetings. We are looking forward to following the projects, seeing the results and hopefully welcoming back the finished films at Nordisk Panorama Film Festival!

51 producers attended the yearly networking event “Producers Meet Producers” focussed on co-production and sharing experiences. The day included a presentation by the Nordic Film Institutes and an introduction to our specially invited guests from the Polish delegation.

Nordisk Panorama Market

Nordisk Panorama Market was bustling with meetings, seminars and industry events. 269 films in the market catalogue and 24 Nordic shorts and docs screened in the Closed Market Screenings. The Nordic Short Film Pitch presented 12 new short film projects including a Polish delegation this year.  After pitching 108 meetings were held between filmmakers and decision makers.

Work-in-Progress presented 6 new documentary projects nearing the finish line to 61 decision makers taking part on site and online followed by 40 pre-booked meetings.

Four Expert Round tables were organized during the Market and an additional 50 one-to-one meetings were pre-booked between filmmakers and decision makers.

Town Hall

In collaboration with Nordisk Film & TV Fond we arranged a Town Hall meeting on the festival Sunday. We saw 125+ producers, funders, broadcasters and leading doc talent gather to grapple with the major issues affecting the documentary community, to share both knowledge and opinions, seek collaboration opportunities and to get fired up about the industry we all love. If you missed the session you can see it here.

Revisit the Masterclasses

You can still watch this year’s two masterclasses on our Youtube channel.

Enjoy the journey through Phie Ambo’s full body of work with clips from the films Family, Free the Mind and Good Things Await. Hear Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck tell how they find the story, what drives them and how they managed to create a unique voice in film through their various experiences of producing, directing, shooting, and editing.

Watch Phie Ambo give the masterclass Art as Activism – Activism as Art.

Watch Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck talk on The Mindset, the Method and the Partnership – a Deep Dive Into the Creative Partnership.

Meet the Filmmakers

During the festival week Nordisk Panorama’s programmers invited filmmakers to take part in Instagram Live talks, and you still have a chance to catch them on our Instagram.

Lucile Bourliaud in conversation with Gunhild Enger, director of Play Schengen.

Cecilia Lidin talking with Frida & Lasse Barkfors, the directors of Raising a School Shooter.

Hawa Sanneh in conversation with Line Hatland, director of Kids Cup.

Sam Groves talking with Ina Holmqvist & Martina Carlstedt, directors of The Voice Break Choir

Find the four recorded sessions here.

Cinema Walk

This year’s new addition – the Cinema Walk – was a logistic challenge and a great success. We managed to screen 19 short films in 20 locations around Malmö and through that we found a new way into people’s minds.

We would like to take the opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all of our amazing Cinema Walk collaborators – both the venues and the creators behind the films! With your help we were able to turn our beautiful city into a giant audiovisual experience.

Check out the Cinema Walk page here.

Thanks to All Our Volunteers

A warm thank you to all the wonderful volunteers helping us before and during Nordisk Panorama Film Festival.

We couldn’t have made the festival without you, your hard work, and your friendly attitudes!

Festival in Numbers

16-21 September in Malmö, Sweden.

32nd edition.

6 festival days.

101 films were screened.

814 accredited guests.

497 submitted films.

269 of the latest Nordic shorts and documentaries were presented at the Nordisk Panorama Market.

12 new short film projects were presented at Nordic Short Film Pitch and 6 nearly finished documentaries were presented at the Work in Progress event.

48 documentary projects were presented to international decision-makers at Nordisk Panorama Forum.

Over 869 industry meetings were scheduled throughout the festival days.