The prize winners of the 59th Nordic Film Days Lübeck – Danish feature debut THE CHARMER wins the NDR Film Prize – audience prize goes to Norway for WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY

Lübeck, Nov. 4, 2017. “The Charmer” (Charmøren), the feature debut of director Milad Alami from Denmark is the winner of the NDR Film Prize at the 59^th Nordic Film Days Lübeck (Nov. 1 – 5, 2017).In town from Copenhagen, the director accepted the award personally as part of the Prize Gala at Theater Lübeck, expressing delight at winning the prize with its 12,500 euro endowment, the largest in the festival. The Audience Prize winner was “What Will People Say” (Hva vil folk si) by director Iram Haq. 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 almost 4,500 votes cast by cinema audiences. The jury for the Baltic Film Prize, which each year honours a Competition film from Scandinavia, chose as its winner “Thelma” by director Joachim Trier of Norway. The lead actress, Eili Harboe, accepted the prize at Theater Lübeck. The prize is endowed this year for the first time, with 2,500 euros.

The Swedish film “Up in the Sky” (Upp i det blå) by director and puppeteer Petter Lennstrand won over the jury for the Children’s and Youth Prize; it is endowed with 5,000 euros provided by the Gemeinnützige Sparkassenstiftung (savings bank federation) of Lübeck. The Children’s Jury Prize, endowed with 5,000 euros by the Radisson Blu Senator Hotel Lübeck, went to Frederik Meldal Nørgaard’s film “Kidbusters” (Kidnapning) from Denmark. The INTERFILM Church Prize is endowed by the Lübeck Lauenburg Protestant-Lutheran church district, this year with 5,000 euros. It went to the Dutch-Norwegian production “Disappearance” (Verdwijnen) by director Boudewijn Koole. Elina Hirvonen’s film “Boiling Point” (Kiehumispiste) from Finland took away the Documentary Film Prize (endowment: 2,500 euros) awarded by the Lübeck trade unions.

And the CineStar Prize, worth 3,000 euros endowed by the CineStar Group, went to director Katja Benrath for her short film “Watu Wote - All of Us” (Watu Wote), which was shown in the Filmforum section, and which recently won the gold student Oscar.

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 November 5, 2017, the final day of the festival, audiences have another chance to see all the films in the Competition section, including the audience favourite “What Will People Say”.

 A Photo of all award winner 2017 of 59th Nordic Film Days Lübeck

The Winners and Honourable Mentions of the 59^th Nordic Film Days Lübeck (as pdf Download with text):

NDR Film Prize

THE CHARMER (Charmøren), dir: Milad Alami, Denmark/Sweden/France

Honourable Mention goes to  

WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY (Hva vil folk si), dir: Iram Haq, Norway/Germany/Sweden

“Lubecker Nachrichten” Audience Prize  

WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY (Hva vil folk si), dir: Iram Haq, Norway/Germany/Sweden

Baltic Film Prize 

THELMA, dir: Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Denmark/Sweden

INTERFILM Church Film Prize

DISAPPEARANCE (Verdwijnen),dir: Boudewijn Koole, Holland/Norway

Honourable Mention goes to  

GOING WEST (Rett vest), dir: Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken, Norway

Documentary Film Prize of the Lübeck Trade Unions

BOILING POINT (Kiehumispiste), dir: Elina Hirvonen, Finland

Honourable Mention goes to  

A BASTARD CHILD (Horungen), dir: Knutte Wester, Sweden/Norway

CineStar Prize

WATU WOTE - ALL OF US (Watu Wote), dir: Katja Benrath, Germany

Honourable Mention goes to  

SPUER – SP:ÜR, dir: Christian Striboll, Germany

Children’s and Youth Film Prize

UP IN THE SKY (Upp i det blå), dir: Petter Lennstrand, Sweden

Honourable Mention goes to  

SCREWED (Pihalla), dir: Niels-Erik Ekblom, Finland

Children’s Jury Prize 

KIDBUSTERS (Kidnapning), dir: Frederik Meldal Nørgaard, Denmark

Honourable Mention goes to  

ROOM 213 (Rum 213), dir: Emelie Lindblom, Sweden

Additional information on prize winners and the jury statements are available at www.filmtage.luebeck.de - A photo of the winners will be available for download after the awards ceremony, on Nov. 5, 2017 at ca. 11 pm.

Press contact:
Silke Lehmann, Luisa Wellhausen, Svenja Knoke
Press and publicity department
Nordic Film Days Lübeck
Schildstr. 12, 23539 Lübeck, Germany
Tel: +49 451 122 1455
presse@filmtage.luebeck.de