The anniversary edition was well received by audiences, festival guests, industry visitors, and the press
Lübeck, Nov. 5, 2018. The 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck drew to a close yesterday, with festival directors Linde Fröhlich (artistic director) and Florian Vollmers (managing director) expressing great pleasure at the results. The total number of visitors this year increased to 36,000, giving the festival another boost. A total of 199 films were shown in 331 screenings at the NFL, which was expanded to six days this year. That reflected the enormous enthusiasm of festival audiences for current filmmaking from the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg. In addition to its own anniversary, the 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck also celebrated three centenaries – “Baltic 100”, “Iceland 100”, and the 100th anniversary of Ingmar Bergman’s birth – with a variety of films and special events.
“In this anniversary year, audiences were particularly enthralled by the variety and high quality of the festival films”, said Linde Fröhlich, artistic director of the Nordic Film Days Lübeck, “especially the documentaries, which had more space this year with additional screenings, opened up new perspectives and sparked lively discussions. But the Retrospective, with the new Schuppen 6 venue, and our diverse programme for young people, were also a big success.”
“The 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck were also very successful in terms of audience attendance, with 36,000 visitors”, sums up Florian Vollmers, festival manager, “It wasn’t only the additional, sixth festival day that led to an increase in ticket sales. We also saw gains across all times of day and festival sections. And the 61st Nordic Film Days Lübeck, from October 29 to November 3, 2019, will also run for six days.”
Lübeck welcomed about 700 industry visitors and media, as well as 240 filmmakers to this year’s anniversary festival. Directors, filmmakers, and actors said they were impressed by Lübeck audiences. The visiting filmmakers particularly enjoyed the frank questions asked by audiences in the Q&As, the good atmosphere in the CineStar Filmpalast Stadthalle, the Kolosseum, the Kino Koki art house, and the CineStar Filmhaus venues, as well as the open-minded and cosmopolitan atmosphere in Lübeck itself.
In addition to well-attended industry events such as the “Lübeck Meetings” and the panel discussions in cooperation with Creative Europe Desk Hamburg and the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Commission, other events and high points of the programme also stood out, such as the Retrospective’s Hafenkino, or the “Open Dome” screenings of the 360° film section in the Fulldome tent.
Nine prizes with a total endowment of 50,000 euros were awarded at the 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck. For the first time in festival history, one film took home four of those – “Woman at War” by Iceland’s Benedikt Erlingsson was the big winner. In addition to the NDR Film Prize endowed with 12,500 euros, it also garnered the Audience Prize awarded by the Lübecker Nachrichten newspaper, the Baltic Film Prize for a Nordic narrative feature, and the INTERFILM Church Prize. A new prize endowed with 7,500 euros by the Friends of the Nordic Film Days for Best First Narrative Film was awarded for the first time this year and went to “The Little Comrade” (Selsimees laps) from Estonia, directed by Moonika Siimets.
The Film Days once again enjoyed strong support from their two media partners, NDR and the Lübecker Nachrichten, with a host of reports and interviews on the festival.
Detailed information on the 57th Nordic Film Days Lübeck, including prize winners, is available at www.nordische-filmtage.de, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram..
Save the date: The 61st Nordic Film Days Lübeck will run for six days from October 29 – November 3, 2019.
Press contact:
Nordic Film Days Lübeck
Press and Publicity Department
Schildstr. 12, 23539 Lübeck
Tel: +49 451 122 1455
presse@nordische-filmtage.de
www.nordische-filmtage.de
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