Lübeck, Oct. 16, 2014. Once again this year, broadcaster NDR is pairing up with the Nordic Film Days Lübeck (NFL) by airing its “Scandinavian film series”, a selection of 11 films from the Nordic region to be shown on the TV channel on nine days. This year marks the 56th year of the NFL festival, which runs from Oct. 29 through Nov. 2. Some of the films that NDR will broadcast were discovered at NFL screenings. NDR will be airing the German television premiere of two films that won prizes in previous festivals. NDR has been a committed media partner of the NFL for many years and since 1990, it has awarded the NDR Film Prize. At € 12,500 it has the highest endowment of the festival prizes and is awarded for a feature in competition that is distinguished by “artistic excellence”.
The NDR film series kicks off on October 27, 2014 at 11:15 pm with the lively comedy “The Swimsuit Issue” (dir: Mans Herngren) about a Swedish men’s floorball team that decides to switch to synchronised swimming and ultimately finds that their new – primarily female – sport is a bundle of fun. The men aim to compete at the world championships in Berlin, requiring lots of practice and a few secret fittings for new kit.
On Nov. 1 the evening of the Film Prize Gala of the 56th Nordic Film Days Lübeck, tension will be mounting on TV as well, with NDR showing a triple-feature “Scandinavian Thriller Night” beginning at 10:45 pm. The late night movie madness starts with the 2009 Danish-Swedish-Norwegian co-production “Deliver Us from Evil” (dir: Ole Bornedal). The film follows lawyer Johannes, who returns to his home town with his young family and finds himself caught between opposing factions when he attempts to stand up for a Bosnian asylum-seeker suspected of running over a woman from the village.
More goose bumps will be in store with Erich Hörtnagl’s “Cry in the Woods” (at 12:15 am, N 2004) about a bank robber who gets more than he bargained for when he takes a hostage who turns out to be newly escaped from a lunatic asylum. And last but not least, Mads Mikkelsen and Alexander Skarsgård lock horns as hunter and hunted in Peter Lindmark’s 2006 Swedish thriller “Exit” (1:50 am).
A day later at exactly midnight, Anders W. Berthelsen, who can be seen in this year’s NFL main programme in “Speed Walking”, will be on television in “Just Another Love Story” playing Jonas, who feels responsible for the car accident that put Julia in a coma and doesn’t reveal his true identity even after her family assumes him to be her new boyfriend. But then Julia begins to awake and regain her memory. The enthralling neo-noir film was helmed by cult director Ole Bornedal (“Nightwatch”).
The following television week starts on November 3, 2014 at 11:15 pm with the TV premiere of “The Hour of the Lynx” by veteran master director Søren Kragh Jacobsen, which screened in last year’s NFL, winning Lübeck’s “Interfilm Church Prize”. One of the leads is played by Sofie Grabøl, familiar to us as Sarah Lund in “The Killing”. In another bit of brilliant casting, the role of the young criminal is played by Danish actor Mikkel Boe Folsgaard, who won the Silver Bear at the 2012 Berlin film festival for his performance in “A Royal Affair”. “The Hour of the Lynx” is a film for those with nerves of steel.
The “Scandinavian film series” on NDR continues on Nov. 9, 2014 at midnight with “Max Manus”, in which renowned Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie plays a resistance fighter in German-occupied Norway. The ensemble cast also includes Agnes Kittelsen (“Kon Tiki”) and German actor Ken Duken. The film was shown at the 2009 NFL.
On Nov. 10 at 11:15 pm, NDR will air a feature from the 55th Nordic Film Days Lübeck; “Northwest” was one of two winners of the NDR Film Prize at the 2013 NFL. Directed by Michael Noer, the Danish film is a vivid tale of two young brothers caught in the middle of a gang war. NDR is airing the broadcast premiere.
The series continues on Nov. 16 at midnight with “Wallander – One Step Behind”, starring Kenneth Branagh in the title role, followed by two more Scandinavian films on Nov. 23 and 24. First up is “Let the Right One In” (Nov. 23, midnight). The film about a young girl vampire and her boyfriend soon became a cult hit, not least due to its thrilling yet touching story – a mixture of vampire movie, love story and social drama – and its rich production values. To round out the series, NDR will air the refreshing comedy “Superclásico” by Ole Christian Madsen (Nov. 24, 11:15 pm) with Danish actress Paprika Steen as one of the leads. The film is the story of Christian from Denmark (Anders W. Berthelsen) who travels to Buenos Aires to try to win back his soon-to-be-ex wife. Director Madsen is represented in competition for the NDR Film Prize at this year’s NFL with his most recent film “Itsi Bitsi”.
The complete programme of the 56th Nordic Film Days Lübeck will be online starting on October 18, 2014 and advance ticket sales begin on October 25 at 3:00 pm. Additional information is available at www.filmtage.luebeck.de, facebook.com/nordicfilmdays and twitter.com/nordicfilmdays.
Press contact:
Silke Lehmann
Christina Drachsler
Fenja Kahle
Nordic Film Days Lübeck
Press and public relations office
Schildstr. 12
23539 Lübeck, Germany
Tel: +49 451 122 1454
presse@filmtage.luebeck.de
www.filmtage.luebeck.de
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