Tempo Documentary Award is one of Sweden’s largest documentary competitions. Eight Swedish documentaries compete for a prize of 100,000 SEK, awarded in collaboration with the Swedish Film Institute. The films also compete for a technical grant worth 50,000 SEK from our sponsor Dagsljus, part of Storyline Studios— a leading expert in professional film equipment rentals.
Previous winners of the Tempo Documentary Award include memorable films such as The Scars of Ali Boulala by Max Eriksson, Stronger than a Bullet by Maryam Ebrahimi, and Om alla bara drar by Karin Wegsjö and Nazira Abzalova.
“It has been an incredible year for film, with an impressive range of subjects and expressions. It will be truly exciting to see how the audience responds to these works, and we look forward to the conversations they will spark”
– Ulrika Bandeira, Artistic Director of Tempo Documentary Festival.
Aleque & Issay
Tora Mkandawire Mårtens / 1h 32 min / 2025 / Sweden / World premiere
Aleque and Issay are twins and three years old. They have just moved from Sweden to China. Everything is new – the high-rises, face masks och rows of adults stopping to stare at them with curiosity. The film folllows the twins during four years, always from a children’s perspective where the camera stays with and on the siblings. The drama is situated in the mile stones of everyday life. To learn how to ride a bike, loose a tooth or to master the art of blowing out birthday candles. A film that smiles, cries and is moved by the children’s infectious laughter and tears.
Dialogpolisen
Susanna Edwards / 1h 30 min / 2025 / Sweden
Within the Swedish police force, a small group is tasked with protecting democracy and facilitating public expression in the streets. Director Susanna Edwards follows the group’s work over a year marked by elections, climate protests, anti-vaccine demonstrations, and acts of political violence. Dialogpolisen offers a gripping portrayal of life at the heart of society’s most pressing issues and the complex role of mediators between citizens and law enforcement.
Trans Memoria
Victoria Verseau / 1h 12 min / 2024 / Sweden, France
A clinic for gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, 2012. The director, 22 years old, is finally undergoing the long-awaited procedure. At her hotel, she meets Meril, from France, who is there for the same surgery. They become close friends, but life after the operation doesn’t turn out as they’d hoped, and Meril tragically takes her own life in Paris years later. The film is both a tribute to Meril and an honest depiction of the trans experience, exploring doubt, hope, and physical pain. Winner of Best Documentary at the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival, 2024.
Yalla Parkour
Areeb Zuaiter / 1h 29 min / 2024 / Sweden, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia / Swedish premiere
Director Areeb Zuaiter recalls seeing her mother truly happy only at the beach in Gaza. She finds the same joy in videos of a group of young men practicing parkour on Gaza’s shores. Through Ahmed, the filmmaker behind the videos, she experiences his life amid explosions, refugee camps, and ruins. Areeb’s nostalgia for her homeland contrasts sharply with Ahmed’s yearning for a place where he can imagine a future. Yalla Parkour won the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC, 2024.
Confessions of a Swedish Man
Hampus Linder / 1h 40 min / 2025 / Sweden / World premiere
A single Swedish father, who identifies as a feminist, travels to a men’s camp in Jutland. Trying to understand the men’s anger, he questions the purpose of the camp. What’s at stake? This seemingly simple question grows into a personal crisis where he reevaluates his identity, role as a parent, and relationships. The journey into the “manosphere” upends his world and raises a profound question: what happens to a man—to a human—when traditional gender roles are challenged?
Surviving the Death Committee
Nima Sarvestani / 1h 22 min / 2025 / Sweden / World premiere
An enthralling account of how Iranian Hamid Noury was lured to Sweden through an intricate plan, where he was arrested, tried, and convicted of war crimes. Through courtroom testimonies and historical accounts from victims of the regime, the film narrates a story of political violence, grief, struggle, and fragile justice. A work that bridges personal accountability with the complexities of international relations.
Katwe
Nima Shirali / 1h 36 min / 2025 / Sweden / World premiere
In the Ugandan salt-city of Katwe, the factory closed 40 years ago, and despite promises from the politicians – nothing has changed. Corruption governs, income from salt extraction – which is done by hand – are slighted by greedy middle men. In a mosaic of perspectives we get to know the workers and their daily struggle, such as Abooki, who labours in the salt lake to provide for their three daughters. In this film the salt both becomes the centre of life and a symbol for the citizens daily struggle.
Ultras
Ragnhild Ekner / 1h 29 min / 2025 / Sweden
With unexpected musical choices and a pulsating work of sound, the film captures the heart of the allure of the football stands – whether it be in Buenos Aires, Poznán or London. The same passion, synchronized choregraphies in the stands and the same roaring choices. Macho and violent, yet a counter movement agains capitalist individualism. “It’s an intoxicating force and a comfort”, says on of the anonymous fans who shares their own story in the film. A tribute to the world’s most popular subculture.
All nominated films will be available to view during Tempo Documentary Festival 3–9 of March in Stockholm. A selection of the festival programme will also be available for stream on Draken Film. The full programme and tickets will be released on the 5th of February, and we will present the programme at our programme release party on the day at Cinema Aspen – Free entry, no RSVP needed. Welcome from 17:00!
