The 32nd edition of the Nordisk Panorama Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries took place in Malmö, Sweden, from 23-24 September, on the premises of the legendary Folkets Park, Sweden’s oldest public amusement park. In total, 300 industry representatives attended, and 54 submitted projects were selected, with 24 being part of the two-day pitching forum. Most if not all of them were very well received and were highly anticipated by many of the assembled industry representatives. Around 630 meetings were held, discussing funding, pre-buys, co-production, broadcasting, distribution and other aspects of further development of the projects.

Here is a selection of representative highlights of the 2025 forum, some by first-time feature directors, some by celebrated prize-winners, and yet others somewhere in between – all of them ready for new ventures and adventures.

Always Far Away – Roman Ďuriš (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Part of this year’s guest-territory delegation, the project is an organic continuation of director Ďuriš’s previous film, Fakir, where an ex-convict tried his hand at a circus career. This circus, its director and his three sons are at the centre here, especially Vojta, the appointed successor of the enterprise, seeking his own voice beyond the seven-generation legacy he was born into and is now expected to inherit. Seven years of shooting follow him from childhood to adolescence. The budget is set at €338,000, and production is handled by Lonely Production (Czech Republic) and Svjetski Films (Slovakia). The release is planned for 2027.

Creaturama – Epic of the Animals by Juha Suonpää (© Swamphead)

Creaturama – Epic of the Animals – Juha Suonpää (Finland)
“A forest. A camera. Seven years of animals inventing a film of their own,” is the director’s own presentation of this poetic nature film, made from the animals’ point of view. Via forest trail cameras, placed in the heart of the Finnish wilderness, it endlessly observes and registers any movement, behaviour and “performance” of any living being caught in frame. In short, the forest becomes a stage where animals move to their own rhythm, with the camera as an unnoticed observer. Director Suonpää (Lynx Man [+lire aussi :
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interview : Juha Suonpää
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Life Through a Lens – Andreas Eidhagen (Sweden)
The first word in the title, written as LIFE, is also the name of the US magazine that brought out an iconic cover in 1965, showing a photograph of a foetus. It sold eight million copies (slightly fewer than a 1964 Beatles issue, but there’s been nothing like it since) and made the Swedish photographer, Lennart Nilsson, world-famous. The film goes behind the scenes and explores the conditions around this iconic shoot, which at times resonates strongly in current times of image manipulation. Production is handled by Andreas Eidhagen and Annika Gritti for The Motor Moving Pictures, and the budget is set at €900,000, with a 2028 release on the cards.

Mystery Package by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen (© A5 Film)

Mystery Package – Silje Evensmo Jacobsen (Norway)
A possible Christmas favourite to come, this is the almost-fictional strange account of the Sandnes family in Valldal, Norway, who get a package every year with gifts for everyone – from an anonymous sender. Mixed with the joy of receiving it is an increasing obsession with finding out 1) who and 2) why. The youngest part of the family, siblings Edle and Brage, become detectives, and some of the tracks lead them to some darker corners of their family history. A5 Film is the main producer, in co-production with Jørn Lier Horst and Ballad Film, the budget is €456,000, and a 2026 release is currently being eyed. Director Evensmo Jacobsen (A New Kind of Wilderness [+lire aussi :
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Rethink – Johanna Ställberg, Sophie Robinson (Sweden)
Possibly the least “pitchable” theme of them all concerns child abuse and paedophilia, yet this is exactly what Swedish psychiatry professor Christoffer Rahm is researching, and he even claims to be able to all but “prevent” it, which is also the name of his programme, with a capital R. The film follows Rahm on his journey to implement his plan worldwide, fighting a fair amount of stigma and prejudice along the way. The producer is WG Film, the budget is set at €466,000, and the release should happen in 2027.

The Greatest Illusion by Benjamin Ree (© Gøran Bohlin)

The Greatest Illusion – Benjamin Ree (Norway)
The return of the grand Nordic documentary wizard Benjamin Ree (The Painter and the Thief [+lire aussi :
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interview : Benjamin Ree
fiche film], The Remarkable Life of Ibelin [+lire aussi :
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interview : Benjamin Ree
fiche film]) presents the story of a magnificent magician in his own right, Alexx Alexxander, whose illusionist skills have taken him to the world’s greatest arenas. Yet again, we get a Norwegian family portrait with dark episodes, as Alexx’s mother was killed by his father when Alexx was 21. Through archive material and private recordings, the film revisits the past, but also explores the present, coinciding with Alexx’s father coming out of prison and Alexx himself having to deal with issues he’s long been suppressing. The budget for the movie, which has been eight years in the making, is €1,340,000, with a 2027 release planned. Medieoperatørene produces with Ström Pictures on board as a co-producer.

The Palme Syndrome – Maria Fredriksson (Sweden)
The assassination of Swedish PM Olof Palme, as he walked home from a cinema in Stockholm in 1986, still traumatises the Swedish collective memory. An official closure of sorts was presented in 2020 when a prime suspect was disclosed, greatly criticised by qualified experts and conspiracy theorists alike. From the deep rabbit holes of the latter category, the director of the universally praised The Gullspång Miracle [+lire aussi :
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More information can be found here, including details of additional Observer+ and WIP projects.