Tempo Documentary Festival

Overview

Tempo Documentary Festival is Sweden's largest documentary film festival. The 27th edition runs March 2 to 8, 2026, across multiple venues in Stockholm. A selection of the program is also available digitally on Draken Film.

Founded in 1999, Tempo is a competitive festival with six competition categories. Three are open to Swedish productions only, one is an international award curated by the festival, one is a pitch competition, and one is an audio documentary competition. Total prize money exceeds 300,000 SEK (approximately 26,000 EUR).

The festival has close ties to SVT (Sveriges Television), Sweden's public broadcaster, which co-presents the Tempo Documentary Award and Tempo Pitch with the Swedish Film Institute. The festival functions as a showcase for the documentary work that SVT and the Swedish Film Institute support.

Submission Details

Swedish Competitions (Open Submission)

Three competitions accept open submissions from Swedish productions. Films must have been produced no earlier than April 2024 to be eligible for the 2026 edition.

Films can be submitted to multiple competitions if eligible. The preview screener must remain valid through March 31, 2026. If a film is withdrawn after January 1, 2026, the producer must reimburse the festival for venue costs.

International Program (Curated, No Open Submission)

The international program, including the Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award, is curated by the festival's international editor. There is no open submission process for international films. Contact the international editor at cecilia.bjork@tempofestival.se.

Industry Submissions (Tempo Pitch, Short Dox Radio)

Competitions and Prizes

Tempo Documentary Award

Sweden's largest documentary film competition, open to Swedish feature-length documentaries (minimum 50 minutes). Winner receives 100,000 SEK plus a 50,000 SEK equipment grant from Storyline Studios. Presented with the Swedish Film Institute.

Tempo Short Award

Competition for the best Swedish short documentary (maximum 30 minutes). Winner receives 40,000 SEK plus a 10,000 SEK technology grant from Storyline Studios.

New Doc

A talent competition for new Swedish documentary filmmakers over 18 in the early stage of their career. Films whose directors have previously had a film distributed via TV, streaming, or cinema are not eligible. No length restriction. Winner receives 50,000 SEK. Presented with regional film bodies across Sweden.

Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award

An international competition for feature-length documentaries, curated by the festival (no open submission). Named after the Swedish documentary filmmaker known for They Call Us Misfits (1968) and A Respectable Life (1979). Established in 2012. Eight films compete each year, all having their Swedish premiere during the festival. Winner receives 3,000 EUR.

Tempo Pitch

A pitch competition for documentary projects in development. Open to professional producers and directors where at least one participant has produced a film distributed in cinemas, on TV, or on VOD. The project must be a feature-length film in need of financing. Winner receives 90,000 SEK in development funding. Presented with SVT Documentary, the Swedish Film Institute, and Film Stockholm.

Short Dox Radio

A competition for Sweden's best short audio documentary (maximum 3 minutes). Winner receives 5,000 SEK plus studio time from Munck Studios. Established by Bengt Bok.

Festival History

Tempo was founded in 1999 in Stockholm. The festival has grown from a small Swedish documentary event into a multi-venue festival with six competition categories and an industry program. The 27th edition in 2026 runs March 2 to 8 across multiple Stockholm venues, with a selection available online via Draken Film.

The festival's relationship with SVT and the Swedish Film Institute has been central to its growth. Sweden's public service broadcasting tradition funds documentary production at a level unusual for a country of 10.5 million people. Swedish documentaries regularly appear at IDFA, CPH:DOX, and other major international documentary events. The Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award was added in 2012 to bring international documentary work to Swedish audiences.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Swedish documentary filmmakers: Tempo is the most important domestic platform. The Tempo Documentary Award (100,000 SEK + 50,000 SEK tech grant) is the largest single documentary prize in Sweden. Connections with SVT and the Swedish Film Institute create direct pathways to commissioning and funding.

For international documentary filmmakers: The international program is curated, not open submission. Contact the international editor directly. The Stefan Jarl Award carries a 3,000 EUR prize and provides Swedish premiere exposure. The primary value is access to Swedish and Nordic broadcasters.

For new Swedish filmmakers: The New Doc competition is for early-career directors with no prior distributed film. The 50,000 SEK prize is meaningful for a first or second film. Regional film bodies co-present the award.

For project development: Tempo Pitch offers 90,000 SEK in development funding, pitching in front of SVT, the Swedish Film Institute, and regional funders.

Withdrawal penalty: If a film is withdrawn after January 1, 2026, the producer must reimburse the festival for venue costs.

Past Winners

The 27th edition (March 2 to 8, 2026) awarded the following prizes:

Tempo Documentary Award (100,000 SEK + 50,000 SEK tech grant):

• Winner - Lust for Life (Viktor Nordenskiold). The jury cited its "indomitable will and political nerve" and refusal to settle for expected storytelling about the refugee experience.
• Honorable Mention - La Belle Annee (Angelica Ruffier)

Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award (3,000 EUR):

• Winner - A Fox Under a Pink Moon (Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya). Uses animation and animal characters to explore the interplay between inner and outer worlds.
• Honorable Mention - My Boyfriend el Fascista (Matthias Lintner)

Tempo Short Award (40,000 SEK + 10,000 SEK tech grant):

• Winner - Better Go Mad in the Wild (Miro Remo). A Czech documentary about twin brothers in the Sumava wilderness. Won at Karlovy Vary before its Tempo screening.
• Honorable Mention - The Nation's Memory (Fanny Rosell)

New Doc (50,000 SEK):

• Winner - Robota Sweden (Kristoffer Kronander and Patrik Oberg). Investigates exploitation in the Swedish construction sector, following Ukrainian worker Serhii's fight for unpaid wages.

Tempo Pitch (90,000 SEK):

• Winner - Pegasus (Tuva Bjork and Sally Jacobson)

Short Dox Radio (5,000 SEK + studio time):

• Winner - Blodigt allvar (Finn Hellman)

The 2025 Tempo Documentary Award went to Surviving the Death Committee (Nima Sarvestani), with Trans Memoria (Victoria Verseau) receiving honorable mention. The 2025 Stefan Jarl Award went to Koute Vwa (Maxime Jean-Baptiste).

Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up

Tempo has served as a platform for documentaries that traveled to wider audiences:

• Better Go Mad in the Wild (Miro Remo, 2026) - Won the Tempo Short Award after winning at Karlovy Vary. Received Czech theatrical distribution through Aerofilms.
• Surviving the Death Committee (Nima Sarvestani, 2025) - Won the Tempo Documentary Award. Sarvestani is an established Swedish-Iranian filmmaker whose work screens at IDFA and CPH:DOX.
• A Fox Under a Pink Moon (Mehrdad Oskouei, 2026) - Won the Stefan Jarl Award, also screened at DOK.fest 2026. Oskouei is one of Iran's most respected documentary filmmakers.
• Koute Vwa (Maxime Jean-Baptiste, 2025) - Won the Stefan Jarl Award. Jean-Baptiste is a French-Guadeloupean filmmaker whose work has screened at Cannes.
• Fear Fokol (Tuva Bjork, 2025) - Won New Doc at Tempo 2025. Bjork went on to win the Tempo Pitch in 2026 with Pegasus, demonstrating the festival's career development role.

Submission Tips Specific to This Festival

Tempo's curatorial focus is exclusively documentary. Only three competitions accept open submissions, all restricted to Swedish productions. International filmmakers should contact the international editor at cecilia.bjork@tempofestival.se.

For Swedish filmmakers, the key decision is which competition(s) to target. A short documentary by a new director can be submitted to both Tempo Short Award and New Doc. The Tempo Pitch offers 90,000 SEK in development funding, pitching in front of SVT, the Swedish Film Institute, and regional funders.

Industry Reputation Notes

Tempo is Sweden's largest documentary festival. It compares to CPH:DOX and IDFA in its documentary focus, but at a smaller scale. Unlike CPH:DOX (which has a major international market), Tempo maintains a domestically focused character with stronger ties to Swedish broadcasters and regional funders.

The festival's connection to SVT is its defining industry feature. SVT co-presents the Tempo Documentary Award and Tempo Pitch with the Swedish Film Institute, and SVT commissioners attend to identify projects for broadcast funding. This makes Tempo the primary venue where Swedish documentary filmmakers connect with the country's main documentary funder.

Compared to Gothenburg Film Festival (broader fiction and documentary program with a Nordic Film Market), Tempo is more narrowly focused on documentary but offers deeper engagement with Swedish documentary industry stakeholders. The Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award brings international work to Swedish audiences and attracts Nordic broadcasters scouting international documentaries.

Watch

See Also

Calculate your total festival submission costs and projected return using the Festival ROI Calculator. For documentary filmmaking approaches, see Documentary Filmmaking Guide. For Scandinavian film markets, see International Film Markets. Visit the official festival website for full competition rules and the key dates page for current submission deadlines.