The winners of the various competitions at the Tempo Documentary Festival’s twenty-sixth edition!
Below are the names of the winners and those who received an honourable mention, as well as the jury’s justification for the respective prizes.
TEMPO DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Tempo Documentary Award is one of Sweden’s largest documentary film competitions. The prize of SEK 100,000 goes to the film’s director, who also receives a check from Dagsljus for SEK 50,000. The competition is organised with the support of the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Surviving the Death Committee by Nima Sarvestani
The jury’s justification: The winning film is brave, raw and punches us in the stomach while reminding us to keep hold of democracy and freedom as tight as we can. In a time when the world is deeply divided, this filmmaker manages to make a real difference using film as a tool for political activism and defending human rights.
Honourable mention: Trans Memoria by Victoria Verseau
The jury’s justification: Trans Memoria is as poetic as it is urgent. It bravely addresses notions of regret and the consequences of difficult choices. We are invited to witness a deeply intimate and often painful process of becoming oneself, while the ritual of filmmaking plays a supporting role in the transformation.
STEFAN JARL INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY AWARD
The Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award is for the best international documentary. The prize is EUR 3,000. The competition is organised with the support of the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
Winner: Kouté Vwa by Maxime Jean-Baptiste
The jury’s justification: From the first frame, the viewer is drawn into a cinematic experience filled with warmth and emotional depth. With apparent simplicity, the film depicts a boy’s view of the adult world where street violence lurks in the background. Kouté Vwa is an intimate coming-of-age story with a big heart, where strong relationships and characters remain long after the film has ended.
TEMPO YOUTH AWARD
Tempo Youth Award is a new competition for 2025 where the winning film is selected by a youth jury. The members of the jury are aged between 17 and 19. The jury has had access to the entire festival programme and nominated eight films that inspired the most curiosity.
Winner: Didy by Gaël Kamilindi, François-Xavier Destors
The jury’s justification: With its extraordinary settings, soundscapes and visually striking archival material, we cannot help but be captivated by this family story. It’s a story that also provides a unique perspective on an entire country’s trauma, the aftermath of which is very relevant today.
TEMPO SHORT AWARD
Tempo Short Award is the competition for the best documentary in short format. The prize of SEK 40,000 goes to the film’s director, who also receives a check from Dagsljus for SEK 10,000. The competition is organised with the support of the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Silver City by Dea Saračević
The jury’s justification: Silver City enchants us with its heartfelt observations of human vulnerability, and gives us a glimpse into the invisible worlds we rarely see. With a careful eye, the director creates, with masterful sharpness, a film where every frame carries a story of loss. The film gets under your skin, and we become one with the people both in front of and behind the camera, as a heavenly soundscape envelops us. A complete story of grief and its healing takes root deep within us and germinates our desire to share this cinematic experience with others. Silver City is an outstanding work that leaves aftershocks.
Honourable mention: New Policy Regarding Homeless Asylum Seekers by Dennis Harvey
The jury’s justification: With a straightforward and honest approach, The New Policy Regarding Homeless Asylum Seekers depicts a politically-charged reality where people are forced to navigate a cold and inhumane system. The filmmaker lets the events speak for themselves, and the camera becomes a sharp and uncompromising instrument to both highlight and inspire resistance. The claustrophobic feeling of vulnerability and injustice is contrasted by the indomitable solidarity of the volunteers as the paradox of democracy is exposed by a director with true courage and pinpoint accuracy.
NEW DOC
New Doc is the competition for unestablished Swedish documentary film directors with a prize of SEK 50,000.
Winner: Fear Fokol by Tuva Björk
The jury’s justification: In a courageous way, Fear Fokol examines the mechanisms of fear and its connection to violence. Through refined skill and a poetic vision, the filmmaker exposes power structures, the legacy of colonialism and the systematic insecurity that characterises a society on the verge of rupture. In a portrait where the camera itself participates in the control, thoughts about fear, life and freedom are raised like a poem about the reality of violence, where surveillance and brutality have become everyday life. Fear Fokol is a film that not only monitors our insecure contemporary world but also looks ahead and asks us the question: can we protect ourselves against fear? Fear Fokol is a bold film that is both challenging and touching.
Honourable mention: Mormor by Lucien Easton
The jury’s justification: Mormor is a tender and existential portrait of the passage of time and the power of memories. Through a sensitive gaze and a gentle portrayal, we are invited into a home with thoughts about the fragility and beauty of life. With a low-key interweaving of archive material and a soft soundscape, the filmmaker creates a presence where past and present become one. The film fills us with great comfort and hope, while also igniting the flame of curiosity about what the future holds. Mormor is a light in the darkness, a story about appreciation for the little things in life, and love for what has been and what still remains.
TEMPO SOUND AWARD
This prize is awarded to the short film, among the competition films in the Tempo Short Award, which has the most thoughtful and creative soundscape. The prize consists of SEK 60,000 to be used in Momento Studio.
Winner: Silver City av Dea Saračević
The jury’s justification: In this film, the director has dared to work with sound, silence and voice, not only as a narrative voice but as a kind of materiality in what a voice and a simple lonely wind in a barren landscape can do. The film is an abstract, complex and beautifully poetic story, which without sound would have been difficult to complete. It is clear that the director has placed great importance on the fact that sound must be a dramaturgical pillar in the film’s design. Thanks to the dramaturgical power of sound, we are quickly and effectively seduced into a completely new and exciting world.
SHORT DOX RADIO
In Short Dox Radio, ten radio documentaries of a maximum three minutes’ length compete for SEK 5,000. The winning documentary will also take part in the Nordic short dox competition. The prize is a collaboration with the production company Munck, which offers studio time and a producer to help create the winner’s next audio documentary. The award was founded by Bengt Bok, professor of radio production at Stockholms Dramatiska Högskola.
Winner: Fotoautomaten i Gärdets tunnelbanestation by Mattias Wallenius
The jury’s justification: Sometimes the easiest stories are the hardest to tell. A single moment is expanded into a captivating journey. A perfect universe that still leaves a small opening at the end. With stylish editing, good sound design and a clear arc, an entertaining story is built – like a perfect pop song in three minutes!
Honourable mention: Besöket by Leo Rehnfeldt
The jury’s justification: With its deliberate choice of words, this story quickly draws us into a Gothic atmosphere. The poetic form contains a deep tragedy, but there is also a form of liberating inner reconciliation. A gripping documentary about not knowing what you are looking for and about grasping for straws in a pile of trash.
TEMPO PITCH
Tempo Pitch is the competition for new documentary film ideas. The prize consists of SEK 90,000 in development funds. The competition is arranged in collaboration with Film Stockholm, SVT Dokumentär and the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Ship of Dreams by Johan von Sydow
The jury’s justification: With a light-hearted and humorous tone, we are taken on an exciting journey that is rooted in something much darker. Bit by bit, what was supposed to be so lovely and lazy unravels into an intricate web of mysteries, linking the past with a very relevant present.
TEMPO SOUND PITCH
Tempo Sound Pitch is a competition in collaboration with Sveriges Radio. The winner receives SEK 10,000 in development support and two half-days with a radio documentary producer at Sveriges Radio.
Winner: Var tog hippisesarna vägen by Leo Rehnfeldt
With a well-prepared pitch, we are attracted by the opportunity to take a journey back to a time surrounded by myths. The story has the potential to offer both a personal and social perspective. There are many exciting paths to take in the storytelling. Which one will he choose?
ANNA PRIZE
The ANNA prize is named after one of Sweden’s first female directors, Anna Hofman-Uddgren, and is awarded by WIFT Sweden (Women in Film and Television). The ANNA prize is awarded to a person who, with moving images, portrays the UN Convention on Women’s Rights in a strong and artistic way. The prize also includes a scholarship of SEK 50,000.
Winner: Charlotte Rodenstedt
Press photos from the winners in Tempo’s various competitions can be downloaded here: https://tempofestival.se/press/
