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 festival program is also available digitally on Draken Film, the Swedish streaming platform operated by Folkets Hus och Parker.

Founded in 1999, Tempo is a competitive festival with six distinct competition categories. Three are open to Swedish productions only, one is an international award curated by the festival (no open submission), one is a pitch competition for projects in development, and one is an audio documentary competition. Total prize money across all competitions 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. SVT has been a major commissioner and funder of Swedish documentary for decades, and 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 they meet the criteria for each. For example, a short documentary by a new director can be submitted to both the Tempo Short Award and New Doc.

International Program (Curated, No Open Submission)

The international program, including the Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award, is curated by the festival's international editor and artistic director. There is no open submission process for international films. Filmmakers with questions or suggestions should email the international editor directly 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). The winning director receives 100,000 SEK plus a 50,000 SEK equipment grant from Storyline Studios. Presented in collaboration with the Swedish Film Institute.

Tempo Short Award

Competition for the best Swedish short documentary (maximum 30 minutes). The winning director receives 40,000 SEK plus a 10,000 SEK technology grant from Storyline Studios. Presented with support from the Swedish Film Institute.

New Doc

A talent competition for new Swedish documentary filmmakers. Open to directors over 18 who are 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. The winning director receives 50,000 SEK. Presented in collaboration with regional film bodies across Sweden, including Film Stockholm, FilmCloud, BoostHBG, Film i Dalarna, Film i Ost, and others.

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. The winner receives 3,000 EUR. Presented with support from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

Tempo Pitch

A pitch competition for documentary film 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 intended as a feature-length film and be in need of financing. The winner receives 90,000 SEK in development funding. Presented in collaboration with SVT Documentary, the Swedish Film Institute, and Film Stockholm. The 2026 edition includes a DAE Management Award.

Short Dox Radio

A competition for Sweden's best short audio documentary (maximum 3 minutes). The winner receives 5,000 SEK plus production support and studio time from Munck Studios. The prize was established by Bengt Bok.

Festival History

Tempo was founded in 1999 in Stockholm. The festival has run annually since then, growing 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 of programs 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, which funds documentary production at a level unusual for a country of 10.5 million people, gives the festival a depth of domestic documentary work to program that most national documentary festivals cannot match. 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 and to place Swedish documentary in an international context. The award is named after one of Sweden's most influential documentary filmmakers.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Swedish documentary filmmakers: Tempo is the most important domestic platform for Swedish documentary. The Tempo Documentary Award (100,000 SEK + 50,000 SEK tech grant) is the largest single documentary prize in Sweden. The festival's connections with SVT and the Swedish Film Institute create direct pathways to commissioning and funding. Submitting to Tempo is effectively mandatory for any Swedish documentary filmmaker seeking domestic industry recognition.

For international documentary filmmakers: The international program is curated, not open submission. There is no way to submit an international film through the festival's submission system. To be considered, filmmakers or their sales agents should contact the international editor directly. The Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award carries a 3,000 EUR prize and provides Swedish premiere exposure, but the primary value for international filmmakers is access to Swedish and Nordic broadcasters who attend the festival.

For new Swedish filmmakers: The New Doc competition is specifically designed for early-career directors. The eligibility restriction (no prior distributed film) means the competition pool is limited to genuine debut and early-career work, not established directors. The 50,000 SEK prize is meaningful for a first or second film. Regional film bodies across Sweden co-present the award, which means New Doc laureates gain visibility with regional film funders.

For project development: Tempo Pitch offers 90,000 SEK in development funding for documentary projects in development. The pitch takes place during the festival in front of industry attendees including SVT, the Swedish Film Institute, and regional film funders. This is one of the few pitch opportunities at a Swedish festival that connects directly to broadcast and film institute funding.

Withdrawal penalty: If a film is withdrawn from the festival program after January 1, 2026, the producer must reimburse the festival for venue rental and other costs associated with the planned screenings. This is a standard but strictly enforced clause in the festival's competition rules.

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.