Lübeck, Nov. 5, 2016.The debut feature “Heartstone” (Hjartasteinn) by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson is the winner of the NDR Film Prize at the 58th Nordic Film Days Lübeck (Nov. 2 – 6, 2016). Accepting the award as part of the gala Film Prize Night in Theater Lübeck, the young Icelandic director expressed delight at winning the prize with its 12,500 euro endowment, the largest in the festival.
With “The Day Will Come” (Der kommer en dag), Denmark produced the winner of the Audience Prize. The winner of the prize, endowed with 5,000 euros provided by media partner the Lübecker Nachrichten newspaper, was chosen by the NFL’s biggest jury, with more than 4,000 votes cast by cinema audiences. The Baltic Film Prize, which always goes to a film from Scandinavia, and this year it was presented to "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki" (Hymyilevä Mies), directed by Juho Kuosmanen from Finland. The stars of the film accepted the award on his behalf. The jury for the Children’s and Youth Film Prize gave the nod to the Latvian film “Mellow Mud” (Es Esmu Seit) by director Renars Vimba; the 5,000 euros in prize money is donated by the Gemeinnützige Sparkassenstiftung. Norway proved a strong contender for the other prizes awarded by the Nordic Film Days, taking home three awards. The Children’s Jury Prize, endowed (with 5,000 euros) by the Radisson Blu Senator Hotel Lübeck went to Hanne Larsen’s film “Gilbert's Grim Revenge” (Gilberts grusomme hevn). And the INTERFILM Prize, awarded by the church jury and endowed with 2,500 euros by the Lübeck-Lauenburg Protestant Lutheran Church District, also went to the land of fjords, for this year’s opening film “Rosemari” (dir: Sara Johnsen). The Documentary Prize (2,500 euros) presented by the Lübeck trade unions was awarded to director George Kurian’s “The Crossing” (Flukten), also from Norway. Director Cyprien Clément-Delmas can be proud of receiving the CineStar Prize, endowed with 3,000 euros donated by the eponymous cinema group, for his short film “Drifting Away” (À La Dérive), shown in the Film Forum section.
The Nordic Film Days Lübeck, presented by the city of Lübeck, is the only festival in Germany and Europe specialising exclusively in films from the Nordic and Baltic countries, and northern Germany, including Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. On the final day of the NFL, November 6, 2016, audiences will have another chance to see all the films in Competition, including the audience favourite, “The Day Will Come”, first thing in the morning at the Kolosseum cinema (including the drawing for the winners of the audience vote raffle), and throughout the day, the other prize-winners mentioned here.
The Winners and Honourable Mentions:
NDR Film Prize
HEARTSTONE (Hjartasteinn), Dir: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Iceland
“Lübecker Nachrichten” Audience Prize
THE DAY WILL COME (Der kommer en dag), Dir: Jesper W. Nielsen, Denmark
Baltic Film Prize
THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI (Hymyilevä Mies), Dir: Juho Kuosmanen, Finland
INTERFILM Church Film Prize
ROSEMARI (Rosemari) Dir: Sara Johnsen, Norway
Dokumentary Film Prize
THE CROSSING (Flukten), Dir: George Kurian, Norway
Honourable Mention goes to THE MAN WHO KNEW 75 LANGUAGES (Mannen som kunne 75 språk) Dir: Anne Magnussen, Pawel Debski, Norway
CineStar Prize
DRIFTING AWAY (À La Dérive), Dir: Cyprien Clément-Delmas, Germany
Children’s and Youth Film Prize
MELLOW MUD (Es Esmu Seit), Dir: Renars Vimba, Latvia
Honourable Mention goes to GILBERT’S GRIM REVENGE (Gilberts grusomme hevn), Dir: Hanne Larsen, Norway
CHILDREN’S JURY PRIZE
GILBERT’S GRIM REVENGE (Gilberts grusomme hevn), Dir: Hanne Larsen, Norway
Honourable Mentions to
THE GIRL, THE MOTHER AND THE DEMONS (Flickan, Mamman och Demonerna), Dir: Suzanne Osten
Iqbal Farooq and the Secret Recipe (Iqbal & den hemmelige opskrift), Dir: Tilde Harkamp
Additional information on prize winners and the jury statements is available at www.filmtage.luebeck.de - A photo of the NFL winners is available here for download.
Press contact:
Silke Lehmann
Wiebke Reichenbach
Zara Zerbe
Jeniffer Pieper
Press and publicity department
Nordic Film Days Lübeck
Schildstr. 12, 23539 Lübeck, Germany
Tel: +49 451 122 1455
presse@filmtage.luebeck.de
www.filmtage.luebeck.de
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