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Top Nordic documentaries and shorts to compete in Malmö

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- Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence and Tonje Hessen Schei's Drone are among the contenders at the Nordisk Panorama in Malmö from 18-23 September

Top Nordic documentaries and shorts to compete in Malmö

The crème de la crème of Nordic documentaries, including Danish director Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence [+see also:
film review
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film profile
]
, which has already bagged 21 local and international prizes, will be on show at the 26th Nordisk Panorama, which takes place in Malmö, Sweden, between 18 and 23 September.

Organised by Filmkontakt Nord, the annual festival for Nordic shorts and documentaries was originally an event that used to travel between the five Nordic countries, but since 2013 it has been based at Malmö, with local partners: the City of Malmö, the Skåne Regional Council and Swedish regional film centre Film i Skåne.

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From among 610 submissions, 42 films have been selected for the three competition programmes, screening to – usually – 600-800 professionals from more than 20 countries, who also participate in the market and the co-financing forum for documentaries.

The Look of Silence – the “companion piece” to Oppenheimer’s Oscar-nominated The Act of Killing [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2012), about the 1965-1966 Indonesian Genocide - is not the only award-winning selection for the three competition programmes in Malmö: Finnish director Amir Escandari’s Pixadores [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
has racked up three accolades, including Finland’s national film prize, the Jussi; Norwegian director Tonje Hessen Schei’s Drone [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
has taken five, including the Cinema for Peace Award at Berlin; and Swedish directors Lasse and Frida Matilda BarkforsPervert Park [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

This year, 14 films will be competing for Best Nordic Documentary and the €11,000 award from Nordic pubcasters DR, YLE, RUV, NRK and SVT. They are as follows:

Denmark: Democrats [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Camilla Nielsson); The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer); and The Man Who Saved the World (Peter Anthony).
Finland: In Dependence (Henriikka Hemmi); Leaving Africa (Iiris Härmä); and Pixadores (Amir Escandari).
Iceland: I Want to Be Weird (Brynja Dögg Friðriksdóttir); and Kitchen Sink Revolution (Halla Kristín Einarsdóttir).
Norway: Drone (Tonje Hessen Schei); Inside Fur (Ola Waagen); and Maiko – Dancing Child (Åse Svenheim Drivenes).
Sweden: Blood Sisters (Malin Andersson); Martha & Niki (Tora Mårtens); and Pervert Park (Lasse Barkfors, Frida Matilda Barkfors).

There are also 14 contenders for Best Nordic Short (and €7,000) – the winner will also qualify for consideration in the Oscar nominations. Furthermore, there are 14 entries in a new category, Best New Nordic Voice, where the filmmakers must not previously have been in a Nordisk Panorama competition.

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