The Five Nordics Launch Joint Press Event at Cannes
CANNES, 13 May 2026
The Five Nordics, the collaborative platform of the five Nordic film institutes, hosted its first-ever joint press event at the Cannes Film Festival, presenting a slate of upcoming Nordic feature films alongside new industry data on the region’s film sector.
Held at the Nordic House in Cannes, Next from the Nordics brought together filmmakers, producers, journalists, and industry representatives for presentations of new projects from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
A central focus of the event was the strength of Nordic collaboration, with all featured projects involving co-production partnerships across the Nordic region and, in several cases, wider European collaborations. The presentations highlighted how Nordic co-production structures continue to enable ambitious filmmaking across the Nordics, combining creative talent, financing, and production expertise from multiple countries.
Projects presented included:
Mr Nawashi (Dogme 25, Denmark) by Isabella Eklöf.
A Favour (Iceland) by Grímur Hákonarson.
Red Snow (Finland) by Ilja Rautsi.
Vampyr (Norway/Sweden) by Arild Fröhlich.
Low Expectations (Norway/Denmark) by Eivind Landsvik.
Lisa & Lilly (Sweden) by Julia Lindström.
My Fairytale Life (Denmark) by Nikolaj Arcel.
The event opened with remarks from Directors Tine Fischer of the Danish Film Institute, Lasse Saarinen of the Finnish Film Foundation, and Kjersti Mo of the Norwegian Film Institute, who highlighted the importance of Nordic collaboration and the growing international strength of the region’s film sector.
Kjersti Mo, in a presentation on facts & figues concerning Nordic filmmaking emphasized the strategic importance of deeper regional cooperation in a rapidly changing audiovisual landscape:
“In recent years, this has also developed into a deeper collaboration where we increasingly share knowledge and data across borders. Because even if our industries are organized differently, we face many of the same challenges: changing audience habits, global competition, financing pressure, and technological change. So collaboration is not only cultural, it is also strategic. We compete internationally, but collaborate regionally.”
Next from the Nordics marks a new collaborative initiative aimed at strengthening the international visibility of Nordic cinema and fostering closer dialogue between Nordic filmmakers and the international film press and industry.