Marking its 20th anniversary, Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision returns between 27 and 28 January with an ambitious programme addressing an industry undergoing constant transformation (see the news). Held at Cinema Draken and Hotel Draken in Gothenburg, the Nordic region’s flagship drama industry event attracts more than 800 delegates from Europe and beyond.

Under the overarching theme “One Transformation After Another”, TV Drama Vision 2026 offers a future-focused exploration of storytelling in an environment where reality increasingly outpaces fiction. With 50 Nordic and European series showcased and more than 100 speakers taking to the stage, the programme responds to shrinking budgets, multiplying formats, evolving co-production models and the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence.

A strong emphasis is placed on the reconfiguration of formats, audiences and intellectual property. Sessions such as Rethinking IPs & Formats: A Fluid Future and Rethinking the Audience explore how stories are now conceived across cinema, streaming platforms, YouTube and live experiences, and how early audience design and world-building are becoming central to sustainable production strategies. These events are complemented by Steve and His Friends in the Multiverse, in which Banijay Entertainment’s Steve Matthews will return to expand last year’s AI experiment into a broader exploration of immersive, cross-platform storytelling.

The panel Cross-Border Chemistry: Co-Producing Between Germany and the Nordics will reflect the growing importance of Nordic–German partnerships in high-end drama, while The European Blueprint will bring together leading public broadcasters to discuss content strategies, relevance and the evolving role of public service media. This is reinforced by New8 – The Next Chapter, which revisits the alliance between eight European pubcasters and assesses its first years of operation. Furthermore, The State of Netflix Nordics will offer rare insights into the streamer’s regional strategy, followed by an exclusive creative dive into the forthcoming adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole.

TV Drama Vision 2026 will also expand its pre-sessions on 26 January, addressing feedback cultures, sustainability, artificial intelligence and economic pressure. These sessions will examine leadership and creative processes, the implementation of the Nordic Ecological Standard (see the news), and the practical realities of using AI responsibly in high-quality scripted production.

For the second consecutive year, the Nordic Series Script Award will celebrate outstanding screenwriting in Nordic drama and will be presented by Nordisk Film & TV Fond. This year’s nominees are Thomas Seeberg Torjussen for A Better Man (Norway), Karin Arrhenius for My Brother (Sweden), Tiina Lymi for Queen of Fucking Everything (Finland), Ingeborg Topsøe for Secrets We Keep (Denmark), and Ágústa M. Ólafsdóttir and Björg Magnúsdóttir for Vigdis (Iceland).

Running in parallel, Göteborg Film Festival’s Nordic Film Market (28 - 30 January) further consolidates Gothenburg’s position as a key European industry hub. Its 27th edition will welcome a record 700 delegates from 35 countries and showcase over 70 projects across market screenings and Works in Progress sessions, as well as Nordic films in development and international projects in the funding phase (read our news).

The programme will place emphasis on both creative resilience and structural change. One of its centrepieces, shared with TV Drama Vision, is Wonderful Things That Work, a multi-part session exploring why certain projects are still succeeding creatively and financially despite a challenging market. Bringing together filmmakers Isabella Eklöf, Milad Alami and Benedikt Erlingsson, alongside leading industry figures including Anna Croneman, Henning Kamm, Jimm Garbis and Peter Carlton, the session will examine creative integrity, audience connection and the courage to pursue stories that defy algorithmic logic. Johanna Koljonen will moderate the session and conclude it with the Nostradamus Closing Keynote reflecting on, and challenging, the current audiovisual landscape.

The session UP 4: New Talents, New Audiences spotlights emerging Norwegian creators presenting audience-driven methods developed within their projects, reflecting a growing focus on early audience engagement. Systemic challenges are addressed in A New Europe Must Emerge: Rethinking Power, People, and Pipelines, which draws on ARTEF’s latest report to examine how European cinema can become more equitable across development, funding and circulation. Meanwhile, Dogma 25 – Reloaded revisits the radical filmmaking initiative three decades on, as directors May el-Toukhy, Milad Alami, Annika Berg and Isabella Eklöf, alongside producer Louise Vesth, discuss the manifesto’s renewed relevance and its challenge to contemporary filmmaking conventions (see the news).

The list of the Series in Progress taking part in TV Drama Vision is as follows:

HARVEST (Denmark)
Director/Screenwriter: Martin Zandvliet
Producer: Rikke Tørholm Kofoed (DR Drama)
Broadcaster: DK

Still Breathing (Norway)
Conceptual Director: Eirik Svensson
Episode Directors: Ida Sagmo Tvedte, André Chocron, Karianne Lund
Creator: Karianne Lund
Episode Writers: Hege Gaarder Nordlie, Amy Ndiaye Black, Jörgen Hjerdt
Producer: Therese Naustdal (Rubicon TV)
Executive producers: Ivar Køhn (Rubicon), Ales Ree (NRK)
Broadcaster: NRK

Summer of 1985 (Sweden)
Conceptual Director: Björn Stein
Director: Amy Deasismont
Screenwriters: Amy Deasismont, Melina Maraki
Producer: Anna-Klara Carlsten (Media Res International)
Broadcaster: SVT

Till Death Do Us Part (Sweden)
Director: Julia Lindström  
Screenwriters: Veronica Zacco
Creators: Björn Carlström, Stefan Thunberg, Veronica Zacco
Producer: Per Janérus (Harmonica Films AB)
Co-producers: SF Studios Production AB, Film Stockholm AB, Dynamic Television, ZDF
Broadcasters: TV4, ZDF, TV2 Norge, MTV Finland