Haugesund Unveils 2026 New Nordic Films Lineup: Animation, Debut Directors and a French Focus
New Nordic Films has unveiled its full 2026 programme, and the industry market running alongside the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund is bringing a record-equalling wave of submissions to the coastal town. The 32nd edition runs 25–28 August, with 21 projects in development selected for its Nordic Co-Production Market — a forum where producers pitch unfinished films to financiers and distributors — drawn from more than 120 submissions (Variety).
That submission level matches 2025's record, according to head of industry Gyda Velvin Myklebust. Norway alone landed nine final picks from 30 national submissions, five of them debut features (Variety).
Among the Norwegian standouts is "Vagina Dentata," a supernatural horror and the fiction debut of Oslo-based director Nataša Urban, produced by Ingvil Giske of Medieoperatørene. Ina Grevstad's "The Virtuous," a female-empowerment story set in 1349 Western Norway, comes from Mer Film. Jorunn Myklebust Syversen directs the social drama "Patience" for Paradox, while Haugesund-born Pål Jackman returns to features with the family drama "Domesticated Animal" after a stretch in television (Variety).
The market reaches beyond Norway. Iceland's Hilmar Oddsson will pitch "At the End of the Road," a drama about Alzheimer's disease. Finland's AJ Annila brings the period piece "The Touch of Light," and Sweden's Martina Haag offers the feelgood comedy "True Love." Four French projects — "All the Softness in the World," "Boutès," "Boderline" and "Temporary Lives" — are showcased as part of a dedicated French Focus strand (Variety).
Animation is a throughline this year. Three animated projects appear in each of the market's two sections — the Nordic Co-Production Market and Works in Progress, which comprises 15 titles selected from 43 submissions. The headline animation title is "ViQueens," the animation debut of Norwegian director Harald Zwart, produced by Veslemøy Ruud Zwart with sales handled by Sola Media and a voice cast including Ella Purnell, Rita Ora, Alan Carr and Anton Lesser. Esben Toft Jacobsen directs the family animation "Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile" (Variety).
What makes the lineup notable is the balance between established names taking new directions and first-time film-makers getting a platform alongside them. Zwart, known for live-action studio comedies, moving into animation; Jackman returning to features after years in series; and five Norwegian directors making their debuts in the same selection all point to a market actively cycling new talent into the pipeline.
For audiences, the films pitched at Haugesund this August are the ones arriving on screens over the next two years — the market is where producers find the money to finish them, and the Nordic sector's appetite for co-production, drawn from 120-plus submissions, suggests the pipeline is full.
