The 32nd edition of New Nordic Films will take place from 25-28 August as part of the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund. The Nordic film and co-production market will present its 22nd Nordic Co-Production Market on 26 August, with 21 projects in development set to be pitched to accredited industry professionals seeking co-producers, financing, international sales, pre-sales and distribution partners. The session will be moderated by Thibaut Bracq. The 2026 edition also places a special focus on France, opening the market up to French producers, and seeking to foster co-production between France and the Nordic countries.

Among the more established filmmakers in the selection is Icelandic director Hilmar Oddsson (Driving Mum), whose At the End of the Road follows a renowned geriatrician researching a cure for Alzheimer’s, whose own memory begins to fail. Finnish filmmaker AJ Annila (The Eternal Road), presents the period drama The Touch of Light, based on the true story of a deafblind boy whose life is transformed through education and woodworking. Swedish filmmaker Martina Haag (Little Did I Know) brings along True Love, a romantic comedy about a recently divorced woman who unexpectedly wins €40 million and a charming man with a lifelong talent for deception. Eirik Sæter Stordahl (Lars Is LOL) brings The Legendary Life and Legacy of Miss Monty, centred on an unlikely friendship between a former drag queen and a young healthcare worker who dreams of becoming a drag performer, while Norwegian director Ellen Ugelstad (The Recovery Channel) offers Acts of Kindness, an ensemble drama connecting a group of characters through questions of solidarity, exclusion and social responsibility.

Other established Nordic voices include Ami-Ro Sköld (The Store), who presents Mum Is in Puberty, an imaginative family drama about a nine-year-old boy coping with his parents’ separation and his mother’s coming out as non-binary; Jorunn Myklebust Syversen (Disco), whose Patience follows a young art student struggling to care for her younger sister after a sudden loss; and Nataša Urban (The Eclipse), who brings Vagina Dentata, a surreal horror about a pregnant artist whose postnatal depression sends her into a nightmarish world of violence, motherhood and artistic creation. Norwegian filmmaker Pål Jackman (A Sámi Wedding) presents Domesticated Animal, an intense family drama about parents confronted by their teenage son’s escalating levels of violence, while Juho-Pekka Tanskanen (The Last Misfits by the Golden River) brings Clusterfuck, a coming-of-age story about a bullied teenager whose attempt to reinvent himself leads to an ever-escalating kidnapping prank.

The selection also includes a number of emerging filmmakers. Kaisa Penttilä and Leena Jääskeläinen present Bear Park, a family adventure about a boy who tries to save his parents’ marriage by winning a skiing competition with the help of an unusually athletic bear. Hedda Mjøen offers Big Deal, a courtroom drama exploring the aftermath of sexual-assault allegations against a celebrated theatre director, while Ina Grevstad directs The Virtuous, a historical drama set during the Black Death about a teenage girl accused of bringing the plague to her community. Elisa Kujala presents Elektra, in which a young game developer begins losing her grip on reality as the pressure surrounding her project intensifies, while Vegard Dahle offers Grandmonster, a horror-comedy about a US dropout who triggers a zombie outbreak at a Norwegian nursing home, which triumphed at the Frontières Co-Production Market (see the news). Christofer Nilsson is at the helm of Apoteos, about a lonely 60-year-old woman who becomes increasingly obsessed with the sense of belonging she discovers while training as a psychic medium. Anathema by Ea Johanne Sandberg and Alpha Nord is a supernatural drama about a woman whose world unravels when a dead man returns to a community determined to preserve its façade of happiness.

The French projects selected as part of this year’s special focus are Ayçe Kartal’s All the Softness in the World, set in 1950s Istanbul and following a family attempting to protect a newborn boy from an ancient vendetta; Yves Piat’s Borderline, about a Tunisian customs officer whose life changes after encountering a donkey carrying cocaine across the desert; Jeanne Géli and Loïs Szymczak’s documentary Boutés, chronicling Szymczak’s return to artistic creation and training after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour; and Wessam Hachicho’s Temporary Lives, following a Syrian teenager and his estranged father as they await their fate in a refugee camp near Oslo.

The projects will compete for the Storyline Production Award, offering €25,000 in equipment rental and grading services; the Best Pitch Award, presented by the Producers Network at the Marché du Film; and the MIDPOINT Talent Award, offering online script consultancy with a MIDPOINT Institute expert tutor. The jury comprises Annick Mahnert, director of programming at Fantastic Fest and executive director of the Frontières Co-Production Market; Soňa Morgenthalová, programme coordinator at the MIDPOINT Institute; and Iris Cadoux, project manager at Eurimages.

Here is the complete selection of the 22nd Nordic Co-Production Market:

The Touch of Light – AJ Annila (Finland)
Producers: Marko Antila, Mikko Tenhunen (Lucy Loves Drama)

Grandmonster – Vegard Dahle (Norway)
Producer: Jon Vatne (Syden Pictures)

Boutés – Jeanne Géli, Loïs Szymczak (France)
Producer: Marieke Tricoire (Womanray)

The Virtuous – Ina Grevstad (Norway/Denmark)
Producers: Teodor Sven Bø, Øyvind Lierhagen Eriksen, Maria Ekerhovd (Mer Film)

True Love (working title) – Martina Haag (Sweden/Croatia)
Producer: Helen Ahlsson (SF Studios)

Temporary Lives – Wessam Hachicho (France)
Producer: Amélie Quéret (Respiro Productions)

Domesticated Animal – Pål Jackman (Norway)
Producer: Julia Joner (Chezville)

All the Softness in the World – Ayçe Kartal (France)
Producer: Damien Megherbi (Les Valseurs)

Elektra – Elisa Kujala (Finland)
Producer: Nora Kuusisto (Dionysos Films)

Big Deal – Hedda Mjøen (Norway/Finland/Estonia)
Producer: Oda Kruse (Kruela Film)

Apoteos – Christofer Nilsson (Sweden)
Producer: Annegret Kunath (Råttunge Produktion)

At the End of the Road – Hilmar Oddsson (Iceland)
Producer: Hlín Jóhannsesdóttir (Ursus Parvus)

Bear Park – Kaisa Penttilä, Leena Jääskeläinen (Finland/Norway/Denmark/Czech Republic/Ireland)
Producer: Terhi Väänänen (Pyjama Films)

Borderline – Yves Piat (France/Spain)
Producer: Damien Megherbi (Les Valseurs)

Anathema – Ea Johanne Sandberg, Alpha Nord (Denmark/Norway/Germany)
Producers: Anne Borggaard Sørensen, Janne Hjeltnes (Empathitude Pictures)

Mum Is in Puberty – Ami-Ro Sköld (Sweden/Denmark/Netherlands/Italy)
Producers: Lovisa Charlier Ginday, Ami-Ro Sköld (Onoma Productions)

The Legendary Life and Legacy of Miss Monty – Eirik Sæter Stordahl (Denmark)
Producer: Matilda Appelin (New Day Productions)

Patience – Jorunn Myklebust Syversen (Norway)
Producer: Kari Moen Kristiansen (Paradox)

Clusterfuck (working title) – Juho-Pekka Tanskanen (Finland)
Producers: Paria Eskandari, Juho-Pekka Tanskanen (Danish Bear Productions)

Acts of Kindness – Ellen Ugelstad (Norway)
Producers: Ellen Ugelstad, Jonas Bruun (Twentyone Pictures)

Vagina Dentata – Nataša Urban (Norway/Romania)
Producer: Ingvil Giske (Medieoperatørene)