Swedish productions dominated Nordisk Panorama's awards ceremony, which took place on Tuesday night in Malmö’s City Hall, with Sylvelin Måkestad picking up the Best Nordic Documentary Award, worth €11,000, for The Smuggler. The film, which originally world-premiered in Thessaloniki's Newcomers section, follows newly retired Lisbeth, who travels from Sweden to Finland to retrieve her late father’s pistol. Joining a “therapy bus” for the children of war veterans, she embarks on an unexpectedly emotional journey.

The jury, comprising filmmaker Robin Petré, EURODOC programme director Nora Philippe and Steven Artels, head of the Documentary Unit at Radio Télévision Suisse, gave an Honourable Mention to Finnish director Jukka Kärkkäinen’s The Beauty of Errors, which also had its international premiere at Thessaloniki, following its initial bow at Tampere.

The €5,000 Best Nordic Short Film Award went to Swedish animator Anna Mantzaris's PLEASE (read the GoCritic! review), which world-premiered at Animafest Zagreb and won the Audience Award. Sweden's Leona Cauklija received the New Nordic Voice Award, worth €5,000, for her 14-minute documentary Son, and her compatriot Karin Tötterman bagged the €1,500 Young Nordic Award for The Karaoke King. The City of Malmö’s Audience Award, worth €2,500, went to Daro Hansen and Thomas Papapetros's CPH:DOX entry Little Sinner.

In Nordisk Panorama's industry section, the newly established €10,000 ARTE European Talent Development Award was handed to the project Lost at Sea by Danish director Ejner Benedict Seidelin and producer Claes Hedlund, of Paloma Productions. The film follows abandoned seafarers stranded in European waters, trapped on ships that have become floating prisons, where they are left in the hands of trade unionists and bankrupt owners – with no idea when they'll return home.

Knots by Faroese director-producer Maria Tórgarð (who also won an Honourable Mention in the shorts competition for Mother Creature) and producer Gustav Ahnelöv, of iMYND film, received the DAE Talent Encouragement Award. The project tackles the country's still-strict abortion ban through the story of one woman, and explores whether the island community will retreat into tradition or step into an unwritten future.

Finally, the Nordic Documentary Producer Award, to the tune of €10,000, was bestowed upon Finland's Juha Löppönen.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Nordic Documentary
The Smuggler - Sylvelin Måkestad (Sweden/Finland/Norway)
Honourable Mention
The Beauty of Errors - Jukka Kärkkäinen (Finland/Sweden/Norway)

Best Nordic Short Film
PLEASE - Anna Mantzaris (Sweden/France/Czech Republic/Norway/Finland)
Honourable Mention
Mother Creature - Maria Tórgarð (Sweden/Faroe Islands)

New Nordic Voice
Son - Leona Cauklija (Sweden, short film)

Young Nordic Award
The Karaoke King - Karin Tötterman (Sweden, short film)

City of Malmö’s Audience Award 
Little Sinner - Daro Hansen, Thomas Papapetros (Denmark)

Industry awards

ARTE European Talent Development Award
Lost at Sea - Ejner Benedict Seidelin (Denmark)
Producer: Claes Hedlund (Paloma Productions)

DAE Talent Encouragement Award
Knots - Maria Tórgarð (Faroe Islands)
Producer: Gustav Ahnelöv (iMYND film)

Nordic Documentary Producer Award
Juha Löppönen (Finland)