Mr. Nawashi Is the First Dogma 25 Film — and Netflix Already Wants It
TL;DR: Isabella Eklöf's BDSM love story Mr. Nawashi has begun production as the first film under the Dogma 25 manifesto — a strict, internet-free filmmaking code inspired by Lars von Trier's original Dogma 95 movement. Netflix has secured Nordic streaming rights, with a theatrical release planned for 2027. Indian audiences can expect it on Netflix eventually, though a confirmed date hasn't been announced.
One year after the vow, cameras are finally rolling
Spring 2026. Somewhere in Scandinavia, the first Dogma 25 film officially entered production — exactly one year after a group of Danish and Swedish directors stood up at the Cannes Film Festival and declared a new kind of cinema. Isabella Eklöf's Mr. Nawashi has started shooting, and Netflix has already acquired Nordic streaming rights for the project.
That's the striking part. A movement that deliberately rejects industry machinery has secured a deal with the industry's largest streaming platform before the film is even finished. Either this is a contradiction or a proof of concept. Hard to say which, honestly.
What we actually know: cast, story, and release window
Here's what's confirmed: Director Isabella Eklöf helms Mr. Nawashi, with newcomer Tanya Holm Andersen playing Katarina, a singer described as someone with "an appetite for life but little self-discipline." Opposite her is Esben Smed — known for The Last Resort — as the mysterious Mr. Nawashi, the man who introduces Katarina to the world of BDSM. What begins as attraction curdles into "obsession and dependence," according to the film's official summary.
Key facts:
- Production start: May 2026 (cameras rolling now)
- Completion deadline: October 6, 2026 (per the Dogma 25 vow)
- Theatrical release: 2027
- Streaming: Netflix (Nordic rights confirmed); global rights TBC
- Financing: Zentropa, DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation), Nordisk Film Distribution, the Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute
- International sales: TrustNordisk
- Runtime: Not yet announced
According to Cineuropa, Eklöf formally launched production on October 6, 2025, reading the Dogma 25 "Chastity Vow" aloud. That deadline — October 6, 2026 — is locked in. The 2027 theatrical window accounts for post-production and festival routing. A Venice, Toronto, or San Sebastian premiere seems likely, given Eklöf's prior festival history.
Why Dogma 25 actually matters
Here's what nobody mentions: the original Dogma 95 wasn't a gimmick. When Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg unveiled it in 1995, it was a provocation — a direct attack on bloated, studio-controlled prestige cinema. The ten commandments banned tripods, non-diegetic music, and genre films, demanding something raw and immediate.
Dogma 25 is a conscious heir to that spirit, updated for different industry pressures. Eklöf launched the movement at Cannes 2025 alongside four other filmmakers: May el-Toukhy, Milad Alami, Annika Berg, and Jesper Just. Their updated "vow of chastity" has ten new rules:
- All scripts must be original and handwritten — no word processors
- At least half the film must be dialogue-free
- Shooting must take place at real-world locations using found or reused materials
- The internet cannot be used at any point in the creative process
- No artistic interference from outside parties
Screen Daily reports that Annika Berg's film is also underway now. This is a genuine movement, not a single director's experiment. Five films. Five directors. All bound by the same code.
What Isabella Eklöf is actually doing here
Eklöf has been candid: Mr. Nawashi is partially inspired by her own experiences. That gives the film a confessional weight that pure fiction rarely carries. According to ION Cinema, she's framed the Dogma 25 commitment as armor — protection from the notes, the market testing, the slow dilution of a vision.
That's not just posturing. Eklöf's debut, Holiday (2018), premiered at Sundance and made audiences genuinely uncomfortable — a portrait of a young woman entangled in a violent relationship that refused to soften. The Dogma 25 framework seems designed to preserve exactly that kind of uncompromised vision.
Her co-writing credit on Ali Abbasi's Border (2018) — the Oscar-nominated Swedish fantasy drama — remains her highest-profile work to date. That film's willingness to make its central love story genuinely strange and transgressive feels like a direct precursor to what she's attempting now.
Esben Smed, who plays Mr. Nawashi, is a Danish actor with strong festival credentials. His work in The Last Resort established him as capable of the quiet, interior performance that dialogue-light films demand. Producer Louise Vesth at Zentropa — Lars von Trier's production company — is attached. The lineage there isn't accidental.
How Mr. Nawashi lands for Indian audiences
The practical question: will this show up on Netflix India, and when?
Probably yes, but not immediately. Netflix's deal covers Nordic territories. The 2027 theatrical release means a streaming debut — even in Scandinavia — is likely late 2027 at the earliest. Global Netflix rights beyond the Nordic region haven't been confirmed yet. TrustNordisk handles international sales, and those negotiations are ongoing.
That said, arthouse European cinema with this kind of Cannes-adjacent profile tends to find its way onto Netflix globally within a year or two of theatrical release. Films like Border (2018) — which Eklöf co-wrote — eventually reached wide streaming audiences despite starting as a niche festival title.
Movie OTT's streaming tracker will update as regional rights are confirmed. Check back as the 2027 release approaches.
For now, Indian viewers interested in the Dogma 25 aesthetic — stripped-down, location-shot, dialogue-light Scandinavian cinema — might prep with what's already on Netflix India: The Kingdom: Exodus (Thomas Vinterberg's spiritual predecessor) and von Trier's Melancholia. They're useful reference points for what Dogma-adjacent filmmaking actually looks like in practice.
No dubbed or subtitled Indian-language version has been announced. Original-language subtitles are the expected format.
What comes next
With production underway and the October 2026 completion deadline locked in, the next development is almost certainly a festival premiere. After that, the 2027 theatrical release. Netflix Nordic streaming will follow, with global rights still to be confirmed.
The four remaining Dogma 25 films from el-Toukhy, Alami, Berg, and Just are in various stages of development and early production. The movement's full scope won't be visible until at least 2027-2028. This one's worth tracking — and Movie OTT will have streaming availability updates across all regions as they're confirmed.
