New Doc is Tempo Documentary Festival’s talent competition. The winning director is awarded SEK 50,000. The competition is organised in collaboration with BoostHBG, Film Stockholm, Förvaltningen för kulturutveckling / FilmCloud, Film i Dalarna, Film i Öst, Filmregion Sydost, Film i Sörmland, Kultur i Halland – Film, Region Gävleborg, Region Värmland, Region Västmanland, Region Uppsala, Film på Gotland, and the Swedish Film Institute. The films will be screened in two programme blocks.
The nominated films are:
Yummaye
Shaimaa Abdurahim | 10 min | Sweden | 2026
In Yummaye, we arrive in Cairo, where a family reunion brings the past to life. The filmmaker captures her relationship with her mother—a bond vibrating with tenderness and a desire for understanding. Through dreamlike imagery and conversations about the family’s different experiences, a mother’s longing for Eritrea becomes palpable, while the director’s own understanding of what “home” truly means begins to take shape. A warm and poetic reflection on bonds that stretch across generations, and on closeness that exists despite differing perspectives.
Bo & talet
Alva Östlund | 15 min | Sweden | 2025
An assignment to film a funeral speech becomes an encounter with a man who has chosen to forgo cancer treatment in order to direct his own ending—and his final words. During filming, a rare sense of connection emerges between those documenting death and the person facing it. Bo & talet is an unpretentious, warm, and humorous portrait of the inevitable, and a tender reminder that life does not always follow a script. Winner of the Doc Lounge Award for Best Documentary at Frame Film Festival.
Att sprida lite mer kärlek – en film om Pytte Ravn
Emmy Christensen, Moa Svedgård, Moa Söderberg | 19 min | Sweden | 2026 | World Premiere
The woman behind the ventriloquist duo Anki & Pytte steps out from behind the curtain. Between beetroot fields and technical mishaps, the filmmakers capture an entertainer and a duck united in what may be the world’s most important mission: to spread a little more love and joy. With persistence and heart, Pytte navigates both craft and life in a life-affirming portrayal of the power of reaching others—and the astonishing impact a duck can have.
Pojkar 11–18
Susanne Kronholm | 23 min | Sweden | 2026 | World Premiere
From the soft contours of childhood to the sharper lines of adulthood, Pojkar 11–18 unfolds as a unique time document. With admirable persistence, the director makes annual visits to four friends on their journey from age eleven to eighteen. As the boys reflect on the year gone by—during a period shaped by pandemic isolation and the constant presence of screens—we witness identities being tested and life paths taking form. A beautiful and meditative portrayal of the dizzying transformation that is growing up.
707 sekunder ur Elvis Karlssons liv
Axel Johansson | 13 min | Sweden | 2026 | World Premiere
In the world of ten-year-old Elvis, every grain of sand is a diamond and the recycling room a battleground for cardboard boxes. When filmmaker and classroom assistant Axel steps into his universe, two souls meet in a shared wonder at life’s great mysteries—such as how one might capture clouds in a bottle. 707 sekunder ur Elvis Karlssons liv is a visually exuberant and deeply tender tribute to childhood. With a psychedelic visual language and explosive questions, it paints a portrait of a boy with an entire galaxy inside him.
Ett slott i Spanien
Aya Sakurai | 12 min | Sweden | 2025
Among old keepsakes and digital feeds, the director seeks answers from her father in an attempt to grasp who he truly is. Ett slott i Spanien is a pulsating, tactile collage where present-day conversations intertwine with archival material in a playful nostalgia. A raw portrayal of the passage of time and the search for a shared world of memory, in a film that lingers. An intimate story of longing and connection. Winner of WIFT Sweden’s Best Director Award at Frame Film Festival.
Älskade, störiga, mamma…
Molly S. Bengtsson | 17 min | Sweden | 2026 | World Premiere
Two adult children enlist an actress to stage charged everyday conflicts with their mothers, while their real mothers watch. Älskade, störiga, mamma… is a fascinating social experiment where fiction and documentary intertwine, courageously exposing the dynamics of these relationships. With both humour and seriousness, the film explores what it takes for two generations to meet beyond the roles of mother and child.
Kära Melodybox
Hedda Keszler | 28 min | Sweden | 2026 | World Premiere
Stockholm has changed—the city once seen as cool and charismatic now feels tidy and tired. In Kära Melodybox, Hedda searches for the city’s remaining soul and finds it at the irresistibly vibrant club Melodybox. Here, jazzy tones coexist with true punk and a reincarnated cat. The film is a melodic, charming, and personal portrait of the odd and the authentic—an energetic tribute to the worn and weathered in a city where the heart beats faster than ever.
All nominated films will be screened during Tempo Documentary Festival, 2–8 March, in Stockholm. A selection of the festival programme will also be available digitally on Draken Film.
