Haugesund’s New Nordic Films Unveils Full Program

New Nordic Films, the industry confab and side-kick to the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Norway, has revealed today the full list of anticipated Nordic features selected for its 32^nd edition running Aug. 25-28.

One of New Nordic Films’ hottest showcases, the Nordic Co-Production Market (NCPM) will platform 21 titles in development, picked among more than 120 submissions, a record level on par with 2025, according to head of industry Gyda Velvin Myklebust. The veteran industry honcho underscored the exceptional lineup from Norway — nine final picks from 30 submissions, including five debuts.
On the watch list, available for sales, are two female helmers turning to horror with the backing from pedigreed producers.

The supernatural horror “Vagina Dentata,” is the fiction debut of Oslo-based Nataša Urban, CPH:DOX winner and IDFA and MoMa selected with her 2022 doc “The Eclipse.” Teaming up with her is seasoned doc producer Ingvil Giske of Medieoperatørene, behind the Sundance winners “” and “The Painter and the Thief.”

Set in 1349 Western Norway, the female empowering “The Virtuous” by Ina Grevstad is produced by Mer Film, behind “Sentimental Value” and “The Ugly Stepsister.”

Another hot Norwegian female helmer — Jorunn Myklebust Syversen (“Disco,” “The Tree Feller)” will direct the social drama “Patience” for top Norwegian banner Paradox, while Haugesund-born Pål Jackman (“Detektor,” “The Storm in My Heart”) makes his comeback to feature film after a string of successful series (“A Sámi Wedding,” “State of Happiness”) with the family drama “Domesticated Animal.”

Among other established Nordic names, Iceland’s Hilmar Oddsson (“Driving Mum” ) will pitch the drama about Alzheimer “At the End of the Road,” Finland’s AJ Annila (“The Eternal Road”) the period drama “The Touch of Light,” and Sweden’s Martina Haag the feelgood comedy “True Love.”

As announced exclusively in Variety, four French projects looking for co-financing and distribution, mostly from the Nordics, will also be showcased at the Nordic Co-Production Market as part of the French Focus: “All the Softness in the World,” “Boutès,” ”Boderline” and “Temporary Lives.”

A similar blend of genres, quality Nordic pics from seasoned and rising talent plays out in the 15 title Works in Progress, selected from 43 submissions. “It’s been easier this year to select high quality projects in post-production, perhaps because it’s harder to reach the market or harder to get international recognition,” reflected Myklebust.

Animation Rules

The industry head pointed at animation as a genre strongly featured this year across the Nordic Co-Production Market and Works in Progress with three projects in each section.

Headlining the slate in post is “ViQueens,” the animation debut of Norwegian/Dutch blockbuster habitué Harald Zwart (“The Karate Kid,” “The 12^th Man”). Teased in Berlin and Annecy, the epic Viking tale produced by Veslemøy Ruud Zwart boasts a stellar English language voice cast including Ella Purnell, Rita Ora, Alan Carr and Anton Lesser. Sola Media handles sales.

Another high-quality family animation pic: “Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile,” directed by the established Esben Toft Jacobsen (“The Great Bear,” “Beyond, “Beyond”) for Sweden’s Snowcloud, has secured world distribution with LevelK, while “Saajve,” the first ever Sámi animation project, will be looking for sales in Haugesund.

Among commercially-oriented names, Denmark’s Christian E. Christiansen, Oscar-nominated for his short “At Night“ (2007), will pitch “Rawhood,” a sequel to his 2006 hit “Life Hits,” produced by Zentropa; Charlotte Sieling (“Margrete-Queen of the North,” “Borgen”) the adaptation of Jette A. Kaarsbøl’s historical novel “The Closed Book,” produced by SF Studios; and Jens Lien (“The Bothersome Man”) his much anticipated AI-driven “Joe’s Assignment,” produced by Einar Film (“Handling the Undead”).

Fast-rising Swedish talent Fanny Ovesen whose “Live a Little,” repped by LevelK, was snatched for the U.S. by Breaking Glass Pictures last year in Haugesund, will unveil clips of her new coming-of-age pic “The Excursion,” produced in Norway by Maipo Film, and Daniel Sawka his autism spectrum disorder (ASD) romcom “Love and Other Disorders,” pitched in 2024 at the Nordic Co-Production Market.

Myklebust also highlighted the Norwegian documentary “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” in which artist and filmmaker Lene Berg turns on the traumatic childhood memory of the year 1975, when her father, the famed filmmaker Arnljot Berg, was arrested in Paris, accused of the murder of his wife.

New Nordic Films’ third pillar — the closed market screenings — will showcase 18 titles among the most high-profile Nordic productions or co-productions, such as Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’or winner and New Nordic Films opener “Fjord,” Norwegian International Film Festival opener “Beloved” by Erik Poppe and San Sebastian competition-bound “Growth of the Soil” by Hans Petter Moland.

In total, nearly 300 professionals from 28 countries — of which 50-plus distributors, 20 sales agents and 20 festival programmers — have signed up for the Nordic industry event.

On the panel front, New Nordic Films’ long-standing partnership with Europa Distribution will deliver practical case studies on “Sentimental Value” and “The Love That Remains” to illustrate The International Success of Nordic Cinema, while Morten Tyldum’s anticipated pic “Ibelin” will be one of the talking points of the French-Nordic Producers’ Conversation.

Seven of the Nordic’s top literary agencies will also be on-site for the Books in Haugesund session.

Full list of Nordic Co-production Market Lineup:

“Acts of Kindness” (Ellen Ugelstad, Twentyone Pictures, Norway)

“All The Softness in the World” (Ayçe Kartal, les Valseurs, France)

“Anathema” (Ea Johanne Sandberg, Alpha Nord, Empathitude, Denmark-Norway-Germany)

“Apoteos” (Christofer Nilsson, Råttunge Produktion AB, Sweden)

“At the end of the Road” (Hilmar Oddsson, Ursus Parvus, Iceland)

“Bear Park” (Kaisa Penttilä, Leena Jäaskeläinen, Pyjama Films, Finland- Norway, Denmark-Ireland, Czech Republic)

“Big Deal” (Hedda Mjøen, Kruela Film, Norway-Finland-Estonia)

“Boutès” (Jeanne Géli, Loïs Szymczak, Womanray, France)”Borderline” (Yves Piat, Les Valseurs, France-Spain)

“Clusterfuck” (Juho-Pekka Tanskanen, Danish Bear Production/Mozhi Films, Finland)

“Domesticated Animal” (Pål Jackman, Chezville, Norway)

“Elektra” (Elisa Kujala, Dionysos Film, Finland)

“Grandmonster” (Vegard Dahle, Syden Pictures, Norway)

“The Legendary Life and Legacy of Miss Monty” (Eirik Sæter Stordal, New Day Productions, Denmark)

“Mum is in Puberty” (Ami-Ro Sköld, Onoma Productions, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy)

“Patience” (Jorun Myklebust Syversen, Paradox, Norway)

“Temporary Lives” (Wessam Hachicho, Respiro Productions, France)

“The Touch of Light” (AJ Annila, Lucy Loves Drama, Finland)

“Vagina Dentata” (Nataša Urban, Medieoperatørene, Norway-Romania)

The Virtuous” (Ina Grevstad, Mer Film, Norway)

Works in Progress

“A Minor Incident” (William Sehested Høegh, Miso Film, Denmark)

“The Close Book” (Charlotte Sieling, SF Studios, Denmark)

“The Excursion” (Fanny Ovesen, Maipo, Norway)

“The Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (Lene Berg, Twentyone Pictures, Norway)

“Joe’s Assignment” (Jens Lien, Einar Film, Norway)

“Just a Kid” (Vala Ómarsdóttir, Ursus Parvus, Iceland)

“Love & Other Disorders” (Daniel Sawka, Anagram, Sweden)

“The Midnight Train Robbery” (Gunnbjørg Gunnarsdottir, På Film, Norway)

“Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile” (Esben Toft Jacobsen, Snowcloud, Sweden)

“Momentum” (Jonas Risvig, Nimbus Film, Denmark)

“Rawhood” (Christian E. Christiansen, Zentropa, Denmark)

“Savior” (Ludvig N. Poulsen, New Tales, Denmark)

“Saajva” (Oskar Ôstergren Njajta, Bauta Film,Sweden)

“Viqueens” (Harald Zwart, Zwart Arbeid, Norway)

“You Crazy Thing” (Miia Tervo, Yellow Film & TV, Finland)