Nordic NEST Winners Announced in Cannes
Finnish project “Deeper” one of the three co-production series receiving funding.
Photo: Producers Solmaz Azizi, Janne Hjeltnes, Frauke Kolbmüller and Mark Lwoff. Credit: Kurt Krieger / MOIN Film Fund
The Nordic NEST jury has reached its decision: the three winning projects of the first Nordic NEST round have been announced at the Cannes Film Festival – Cargo Crime by writer Valeria Richter from Denmark, Deeper by Eva-Maria Koskinen from Finland, and White Noise by Stefanie Ren from Germany. All projects will be produced jointly by Nordic and German partners and will receive additional funding of up to €60,000 per project for the scriptwriting phase.
The program by MOIN Film Fund, the German Federal Film Board (FFA) and The Five Nordics now enters its final stage. The Nordic-German teams behind the three winning series “Cargo Crime”, “Deeper” and “White Noise” will spend the coming months working intensively on their screenplays. Each project brings together a German and a Nordic production company. All three projects are being led by women – both on the producing and the writing side.
From eight to three
Eight teams of producers and writers came together at the Nordic NEST Matchmaking Event held as part of the Göteborg Film Festival in January 2026 and spent the following weeks developing their film and series treatments across borders. Each project received funding of €20,000. From this pool, the Nordic NEST Jury selected the three best projects, which were announced in Cannes.
About the projects
Cargo Crime
Producers: Jennifer Mueller von der Haegen (Weydemann Bros. Film, Germany), Janne Hjeltnes (Empathitude Pictures, Norway)
Writer: Valeria Richter (Denmark)
Format: Series; Genre: Drama
Synopsis: Ebba’s truck is targeted by criminals and ex-cop Dar involves himself in her case more than he should. When her niece becomes collateral ‘cargo’ in the heist of her truck, Ebba and Dar find an unlikely bond as they race to find her.
Deeper
Producers: Frauke Kolbmüller (Oma Inge Film, Germany), Mark Lwoff (Bufo, Finland)
Writer: Eva-Maria Koskinen (Finland)
Format: Series; Genre: Drama, Thriller
Synopsis: Finnish police diver Kira joins the Nord Stream sabotage investigation, only to discover that one of the prime suspects is the woman she still loves. As the case becomes a political weapon amid rising security tensions in Europe, she must choose between turning in the love of her life or crossing a line that pulls her into the conflict – risking the future with her young daughter.
White Noise
Producers: Solmaz Azizi (Zentropa Germany), Charlotte Hjordt (Zentropa Denmark)
Writer: Stefanie Ren (Germany)
Format: Series; Genre: Mystery
Synopsis: After her brother’s unexplained death, Elin returns to her coastal hometown in search of answers. But as she uncovers signs of something she can’t explain, her nephew Mads begins to hear his dead father.
About Nordic NEST
Nordic NEST is an initiative of MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein in partnership with the German Federal Film Board (FFA) and the Five Nordics – the alliance of the Danish Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, Icelandic Film Centre, Norwegian Film Institute and Swedish Film Institute.
The NEST programme, developed by MOIN Film Fund, has already proven successful in Germany and is now being implemented internationally for the first time. Nordic NEST is exploring new approaches to international co-development and thus provides a strong foundation for future co-productions between Germany and the Nordic countries.
Applications for the next Nordic NEST round will open in summer 2026. More information will follow soon.