The Nordisk Panorama Film Festival returns to Malmö, bringing together an extraordinary collection of short films and documentaries from across the Nordic region. From street-level pop-up screenings to bold new collaborations, the festival continues to be a vibrant hub for both cinema lovers and industry professionals.

Nordic Watchlist’s Alex Minnis sat down with Festival Director Ylva Skarsgård and Executive Director Heidi Elise Christensen to discuss what audiences can expect, unique events to look out for, and how the festival brings cinema into the streets.

Nordic Watchlist: How would you best describe the energy and atmosphere for this year’s festival?

It is always a fun and welcoming event. The festival aims to stay curious about people, topics, and stories from across the region. There is a real sense of community around Nordisk Panorama—both the audience and visiting filmmakers bring a fantastic energy that makes it uniquely accessible and lively.

Nordic Watchlist: For anyone unfamiliar with Nordisk Panorama, what type of films do you screen?

We focus specifically on Nordic short films and documentaries. It is quite an extensive lineup, featuring 58 films in competition covering five Nordic countries. Filmmakers attend the screenings to host Q&A sessions, giving the audience a rare opportunity to ask questions directly and dive deeper into the stories behind the films.

Nordic Watchlist: Beyond the main cinema screenings, what special events should visitors look out for?

Ylva and Heidi: We love taking cinema out into the city. One of our favorite traditions is the Pub Crawl Cinema, where we take a cargo bike equipped with a large screen to various bars on Saturday night, dropping in on people enjoying a drink to screen a funny short film and introduce them to the festival.

This year, we are also collaborating with a forthcoming erotic film festival in Malmö. They have curated a special sidebar program featuring seven Nordic erotic shorts, complete with live performances connected to the films.

Nordic Watchlist: If you had to recommend a couple of must-see films from this year’s program, which would you pick?

Ylva and Heidi: We always hesitate to single out favorites, but our two opening films serve as a perfect introduction to the festival. First is Please, a stop-motion animation short directed by Anna Mantzaris that offers a heartwarming and humorous portrait of human longing, belonging, and connection. Alongside it is In Cod We Trust, a documentary feature directed by Guro Saniola Bjerk that travels to Båtsfjord in northern Norway. It presents a warm, humorous slice-of-life look at a remote fishing village sustained by the cod industry and enriched by its diverse community of migrant workers.

Nordic Watchlist: What overarching themes or creative trends have you noticed running through this year’s selected shorts and documentaries?

Ylva and Heidi: I wouldn’t say this year’s theme is fundamentally different from previous years. In the absence of natural disasters, war or extreme poverty on our doorstep, many of the issues we explore in the Nordics are more personal – centered around identity, belonging and relationships.

But of course, we are not isolated from the rest of the world. Climate change, war, migration and global politics affect us too, and these larger forces increasingly find their way into very personal stories.

So you could say that a lot of this year’s programme revolves around belonging in a changing world: home, family, community and place, and the forces that can make us feel either connected or displaced.

Many films explore how our sense of identity is shaped by family, relationships, culture and where we come from, while also asking what happens when the world around us changes. Migration, political instability, ageing, climate change, technology and shifting social expectations all appear throughout the programme, but usually through personal stories rather than conventional issue films.

There is also a strong interest in the tension between connection and isolation – between wanting to belong and feeling like an outsider. Common Ground, for example, explores community, identity and shared humanity in changing environments, while films such as Traces of the Unseen, Aftertime and In Cod We Trust approach migration, family history and belonging from very different perspectives.

Taken together, the films ask a fairly simple, but fundamental question: who do we become when the world around us changes?

Nordic Watchlist: What is it about Malmö as a host city that gives Nordisk Panorama such a distinct, welcoming feel?

Ylva and Heidi: Malmö is Nordic at its core, but never inward-looking. It’s a relatively small, open and easy-going city, so the festival never feels separated from the place around it. The municipality has a strong commitment to culture, and there is always a lot happening across the city.

It’s also remarkably diverse, with people from 186 nationalities living here, and its connection to Copenhagen and the rest of Europe means that people, cultures and ideas are constantly crossing borders. That openness and international outlook feel very much in tune with Nordisk Panorama.

Nordisk Panorama takes place in Malmö, Sweden. For full schedule details and ticket information, visit the official festival website.