The winners of the various competitions at the 27th edition of Tempo Documentary Festival have now been announced. This year, prizes were awarded in eight categories. On Saturday evening, the recipients received their awards at a ceremony held at Debaser in Stockholm. Below are this year’s winners, honorable mentions, and the jury’s motivations for each prize.
TEMPO DOCUMENTARY AWARD
The Tempo Documentary Award is one of Sweden’s largest documentary film competitions. The prize, awarded to the film’s director, consists of 100,000 SEK and a technical grant of 50,000 SEK from Storyline Studios. The competition is organized with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Lust for Life by Viktor Nordenskiöld
Jury’s motivation: With an indomitable will and a political edge that never seeks the comfortable, Lust for Life never gives up on either its characters or its audience. The film draws from the refugee experience but refuses to remain trapped in expected storytelling. Through a surprising and consistent visual language, it brings forgotten lives to the surface and places them squarely in our contemporary world. The result is an urgent and deeply human film that reminds us that visibility itself is a political act.
Honorable mention: La Belle Année by Angelica Ruffier
Jury’s motivation: La Belle Année challenges the documentary form without losing its emotional precision, moving with a confidence that reflects clear artistic courage. With a consistent and distinctive cinematic language, it creates a space where storytelling can breathe in its own rhythm, weaving structure and emotion into something both surprising and deeply personal. Through its uncompromising approach, it reimagines familiar themes such as love and heritage, turning them into something unexpected and alive.
STEFAN JARL INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY AWARD
The Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award is presented to the best international documentary. The prize amount is 3,000 euros. The competition is organized with support from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
Winner: A Fox Under a Pink Moon by Mehrdad Oskouei & Soraya
Jury’s motivation: This documentary goes beyond traditional storytelling. With artistic animation and imagined animal characters it explores the interchanging inner and outer worlds of a human being with emotional power and psychological depth. Through claustrophobic yet beautifully framed phone compositions, this film opens up for an understanding of the complex political situation endangering not just the film’s protagonist but so many people of the world. The two directors have through their collaboration created a piece of cinema whose images will rest with us for a long time after.
Honorable mention: My Boyfriend el Fascista by Matthias Lintner
With well crafted compositions this film positions one man’s struggle for the freedom of his country and people within the frame of a couple relationship. Intimacy and world politics collide, in a way seldom seen. The film avoids cliché and instead allows for arguments of fascism, communism and modern right wing extremism to be fought over angrily eaten casserole. Though ending on a good note, we are left with the feeling of having shared some of the tragedies – political as well as personal – of our time.
TEMPO YOUTH AWARD
The Tempo Youth Award is a competition in which a jury of three young people aged 17 to 19 selects the winner. The youth jury has access to the entire festival program, from which they nominate eight films for the award. One of these eight films is then chosen as the winner and receives the Tempo Youth Award.
Winner: Better Go Mad in the Wild by Miro Remo
This film depicts a love that does not turn a blind eye to the other person’s flaws. A love that rubs off on us in the audience. Beauty and ugliness coexist, cutting without warning between flower meadows and animal slaughter. With music, poetry, and a talking cow, director Miro Remo has managed to capture the brothers’ dynamic. The film does not hold our hand, but allows us to find our own meaning in it. The winner of this year’s Tempo Youth Award is Better Go Mad in the Wild by Miro Remo, an unconventional portrait of what true love can look like.
TEMPO SHORT AWARD
The Tempo Short Award is the competition for the best short-format documentary. The prize of 40,000 SEK is awarded to the film’s director, who also receives a technical grant of 10,000 SEK from Storyline. The competition is organized with support from the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Robota Sweden by Kristoffer Kronander & Patrik Öberg
With true urgency, this film fearlessly illuminates voices kept in the dark. Balancing deftly on the threshold between investigative journalism and intimate documentary, it draws us into the very rooms of conflict, alongside the people fighting for their rights, leaving us deeply frustrated and moved. By capturing unfiltered moments and electrifying confrontations, the filmmakers expose a profound injustice echoing across our society. An absolutely affecting watch, demanding your undivided attention.
Honorable mention: The Nation’s Memory by Fanny Rosell
Guided by a careful eye for the extraordinary, this film turns a world hidden in plain sight into a witty exploration that steadily draws us in. By discovering a poetic and subtly absurd dimension within the processes of an ancient institution, the filmmaker has created a thoughtfully crafted work where precision meets insight and curiosity, revealing layers of our shared history along the way.
NEW DOC
New Doc is Tempo Documentary Festival’s talent competition. The winning director receives 50,000 SEK. The competition is organized in collaboration with BoostHBG, Film Stockholm, the Cultural Administration VGR/FilmCloud, Film i Dalarna, Film i Öst, Filmregion Sydost, Film i Sörmland, Region Halland, Region Gävleborg, Region Värmland, Region Västmanland, Region Uppsala, and the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Dear Melodybox by Hedda Keszler
Jury’s motivation: Unrestrained creative joy and a punk-inspired visual language make this film a constantly surprising experience. In a brilliant weave of animation and raw reality, the metropolis’ metamorphosis is depicted, where the stubborn warmth of community meets a disciplined but self-critical look at the individualism of our time. With masterful rhythm and unfailing humor, the director lets the question “what would a society be without the old and worn?” resonate straight to the heart. A colorful, unforgettable, and much-needed time capsule that precisely takes the pulse of a city in transformation.
Honorable mention: Älskade, störiga, mamma… by Molly S. Bengtsson
Jury’s motivation: With refreshing courage, the film freely navigates the boundary between fiction and reality. It exposes our most fragile relationships, highlighting the invisible patterns we easily fall into with those closest to us. The film confidently rests in the uncomfortable and uneasy, letting inherited behaviors coexist with liberating humor and sharp observations of human behavior. It is an impressively crafted work and a narrative form worthy of encouragement, leaving an intense and revealing impression long after viewing.
SHORT DOX RADIO
The Short Dox Radio award was established by Bengt Bok, filmmaker and radio producer. It is awarded together with Munck Studios. The winner receives 5,000 SEK as well as studio time and a producer at Munck Studios to realize their next audio documentary.
Winner: Blodigt allvar by Finn Hellman
Jury’s motivation: A twisted story that evokes strong emotions and conveys far more than it initially reveals. A search for eternal friendship.
Honorable mention: Telefonsamtalet by Casey Gustafsson
Jury’s motivation: A documentary with deep presence that draws the listener into the absolute now. A raw and courageous conversation about the most vulnerable.
TEMPO PITCH
Tempo Pitch is the competition for new documentary film ideas. The winning project is awarded 90,000 SEK in development funds. The competition is organized in collaboration with Film Stockholm, SVT Documentary, and the Swedish Film Institute.
Winner: Pegasus by Tuva Björk & Sally Jacobson | Producer: David Aronowitsch, Tuva Björk and Sally Jacobson / Bank
Through an astonishing cinematographic journey, this project portrays a glimpse of the inequality and the absurd in our post-colonialist society. Rethinking myths, it gives us wings to observe from new angles the connections that interrelates livings beings in our times.
DOK LEIPZIG AWARD
An invitation to DOK Leipzig, including the opportunity to be fast-tracked for the marketplace, as well as three nights’ accommodation.
Winner: Pegasus by Tuva Björk & Sally Jacobson | Producer: David Aronowitsch, Tuva Björk and Sally Jacobson / Bank
Taking us on the air journey of a horse from a luxury stable in Mexico to Europe, the directors immerse us in an exploration of the frenzies of global trade from a uniquely original vantage point. This premise, combined with visually striking material and interest in hybrid forms, holds the promise of a wonderfully compelling and challenging film, in the best sense of the word.
DOCS IRELAND AWARD
An invitation to the Docs Ireland Marketplace in Belfast, where the winning project will have the opportunity to present their film to Irish and international decision-makers.
Winner: Family Trees by Olivia Rodriguez Tejle & Amanda Saveland | Producer: Sara Börje Ramberg / New Land
The project stood out due to its beautifully filmed teaser and its potential to tell a story, that not only describes the meaningful engagement with our climate by many generations of one family in Sweden, but also a journey that we all must go through in the coming years. We look forward to welcoming the filmmaking team to Belfast to meet distributors, broadcasters, programmers and sales agents from Ireland and all over the world.
DAE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
The DAE Encouragement Award is presented by the Documentary Association of Europe to one of the projects showcased during Work in Progress. The prize includes one year of free membership in the Documentary Association of Europe, as well as a complimentary consultation on the film’s international potential or a professional development consultation for the producer’s career, depending on the needs of the film.
Winner: Mamma utan minne by Siri Ambjörnsson | Producers: Siri Ambjörnsson, Dylan Williams / Backflip Media
Jury’s motivation: A courageous project full of love that resonates deeply as the personal relationship is allowed to take center stage. With an exciting visual language, the film brings us both close and beneath the surface during a difficult time. When the most personal becomes universal, we are reminded of life’s transience and that what remains with us at the end is always love.
