Meet the Filmmakers Nominated for Nordic Wave 2026

The next generation of Nordic filmmaking takes centre stage as Stockholm International Film Festival announces the five nominees for Nordic Wave 2026. For the third consecutive year, emerging directors have been selected to pitch their feature film or series projects to industry professionals during Stockholm Industry Days, competing for SEK 400,000 in post-production support, presented in partnership with Tint.

Nordic Wave is a pitch competition celebrating distinctive and bold Nordic voices. Open to directors developing their first, second or third feature film or series, the competition provides a platform for emerging filmmakers to pitch their projects live during Stockholm Industry Days. The pitches bring the filmmakers together with distributors, co-producers, festival programmers and other industry professionals, creating opportunities to connect with potential partners and decision-makers.

After having received a large number of highly interesting projects, five have been selected for Nordic Wave 2026. Among the nominees are projects from the teams behind this year’s Oscar winner for Best International Feature Film, Sentimental Value, and Palme d’Or winner Fjord, as well as the European Film Award-shortlisted documentary La belle année and Norway’s official Academy Award submission, Growth of the Soil:

FORD by Malin Ingrid Johansson (FEATURE | FICTION | Sweden)

Born and raised on a farm in the Swedish countryside, Malin Ingrid Johansson is one of the few directors equally at home behind a camera and behind the wheel of a tractor. Her short film Madden premiered internationally at Berlinale in 2023 and received several awards, including Best national short at both Gothenburg Film Festival and Uppsala Short Film Festival, Special Mention for best acting at AFI Fest. Her second short Deck 5b won best international short at TIFF 2024.

FORD is produced by Joel Rostmark for Pine.

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GØTUBRÁ by Anna Maria Sloan and Annika Djurhuus Olsen (SERIES | FICTION | Faroe Islands, Denmark and Norway)

GØTUBRÁ marks the directors’ first television series. Developed with the support of writer and assistant director Ylva Forner, the project draws on dating stories from the directors’ own lives and those of people they know in the Faroe Islands

GØTUBRÁ is produced by Lucas Frayssinet and Rúna Volmarsdóttir Højgaard for Bloom Productions, in co-production with Motor Productions and Anagram Productions.

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Like There is No Tomorrow by Tess Quatri (FEATURE | FICTION | Norway, Spain, Sweden and Denmark)

Tess Quatri is an award-winning writer-director who grew up in the Canary Islands, Sweden and Kenya. She graduated from the Norwegian Film School with a bachelor’s degree in fiction directing in 2022 and later studied screenwriting at Alma Education in Sweden. Having directed two short films, she is now developing her debut feature, Like There is No Tomorrow, for which she received the Swedish Film Institute’s Wild Card grant in 2025, supporting emerging filmmakers in developing their projects.

Like There is No Tomorrow is produced by Andrea Berentsen Ottmar and Dyveke Bjørkly Graver for Eye Eye Pictures.

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Migration Solutions by Dennis Harvey (FEATURE | DOCUMENTARY | Sweden)

Dennis Harvey is an Irish filmmaker based in Sweden. His short film The Building and Burning of a Refugee Camp received a Guldbagge Award and was recognised by the French Academy of Cinema among the world’s best short films of 2024. His debut feature, Celtic Utopia, won the Grand Prix at Locarno’s Semaine de la Critique. His films have screened at festivals including Cinéma du Réel, CPH, IDFA and the Chicago International Film Festival, and have been released theatrically and broadcast internationally. In 2025, he was also nominated for Stockholm International Film Festival’s short film pitch competition, 1 KM FILM.

Migration Solutions is produced by Elin Lilleman Eriksson for MDEMC Productions.

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Stone Life by Gunhild Enger (FEATURE | FICTION | Norway)

Gunhild Enger graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2005 and the School of Film Directing in Gothenburg in 2012. Her graduation film, Bargain, was nominated for a BAFTA, and her films have since screened at festivals around the world. Her short film Premature (2012) won awards at several festivals, while The Committee (2016) and Play Schengen (2020) both premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival. She is now developing her debut feature, Stone Life.

Stone Life is produced by Håkon Øverås, Peter Theisen Amlie and Håvard Gjerstad for 4 1/2 Fiction.

Read more about the selected projects: Nordic Wave 2026 – Nominees

Previous winners of the Nordic Wave award include Swedish directors Karim Fakih (2025) and Elin Övergaard (2024).

Yesterday, we also announced the nominees for the Stockholm International Film Festival’s other pitch competition, 1 KM FILM 2026. One of Sweden’s leading initiatives for short film development, the competition has supported filmmakers who have gone on to shape Swedish cinema, including Amanda Kernell (Sami Blood and Brace Your Heart).

This year's nominees and their respective projects are:

• Tuva Björk – Vita
  
• Ronson Huynh – Durian
  
• Joaquim Berglund – Familjeband
  
• Viktor Hedlund and Sara Dutta – Domslutet
  
• Malin Barr – Emergency Contact
• Klara Thafvelin – Tapeworms
  
• Clara Vida – Aman

The winners of both the Nordic Wave Award 2026 and 1 KM FILM 2026 will be announced during the Stockholm International Film Festival's award ceremony at Soho House on November 19.

Nordic Wave is part of Stockholm Industry Days, four days during Stockholm international film festival dedicated to bringing filmmakers together and hosting the conversation currently shaping the international industry landscape. Stockholm Industry Days 2026 takes place between November 16–19.

To take part in the Industry program, apply for accreditation here.

For further information or any other press inquiries regarding the festival, please contact:

Angela Ljungblad, press officer Stockholms filmfestival, press@stockholmfilmfestival.se

Elvis Forsberg Liem, press coordinator Stockholms filmfestival, pressekreterare@stockholmfilmfestival.se

Arvid Munkner, press assistant Stockholms filmfestival, pressassistent@stockholmfilmfestival.se