The 67th Nordic Film Days Lübeck in Numbers

Lübeck, December 4, 2025. This year’s Nordic Film Days Lübeck were once again a success. Between November 5th and 9th 2025, the northern city once again became a meeting place for filmmakers, audiences, and industry professionals from the entire Baltic region.

With approximately 25,000 visitors in the festival cinemas alone, the NFL increased its audience by 20 percent. The new ticketing system enjoyed a particularly positive reception. Some 80 percent of all tickets were booked online; with 20 percent bought cash-free at the box offices. Audiences embraced the simplified booking system and the elimination of advance sales fees, validating the necessity of the technical upgrade to the system.

Over the course of the 67th Nordic Film Days, 191 films, TV episodes, and audio-visual works were shown in 226 public screenings, complemented by 25 side-bar events.

This year, the festival welcomed 534 film professionals to Lübeck, including 152 filmmakers from Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, and Germany who personally presented their films.

Among the 86 representatives of the media were students from Kiel’s University of Applied Sciences journalism school with the BLOG:Buster project, who reported from the Nordic Film Truck.

A total of 40 jury members awarded the 11 festival prizes in the various sections.

More than one-half of the film programme was available to stream from anywhere in Germany for a week after the end of the festival on the NFL VoD platform. This proven hybrid model increases the festival’s reach, especially for audiences in rural areas or with limited mobility. The expanded programme also increased festival visibility and enhanced the marketing opportunities for the films. The VoD streaming programme was accessed some 3000 times, 50 percent higher than last year.

“With our new ticketing system, we are making a strategic move to advance digital developments. It is a true milestone for the festival; user-friendly and efficient. As the numbers prove, audiences embraced it, I am very excited about that”, says managing director Susanne Kasimir.

“Each year it becomes more apparent that our festival is appreciated both internationally and locally as a spot for industry encounters, exchange, and cultural participation”, says Thomas Hailer, the NFL artistic director, “and more evident how powerful the desire is for real stories beyond the mainstream”.

A special highlight was the 360° installation Life in a Generation Ship by Yael Bartana, showing for free in the Infinity Dome at Klingenberg Square. The piece, a tale of collective survival, memory, and utopia on board a multi-generational spaceship pulled in almost one thousand viewers and became an impressive example of the artistic power of immersive formats and new paths in cinematic storytelling.

The festival strategic decision to expand programmes for younger target groups paid off in 2025. Almost 2500 school and day care children took advantage of the free film screenings, an increase of 30 percent. The film programme was complemented by educational events, low-barrier screenings, and free use of public transit to attend the festival.

The Nordic Film Days have pursued an overall strategy of continuously expanding inclusiveness, since 2023 under the guiding principle of Cinema for All. This has resulted in more films with audio description, SDH and German subtitles, and live sign language interpreters. Following last year’s pilot project, this year’s festival also offered screenings with sensory adaptation for neuro-divergent filmgoers, a format that is gaining notice across Germany.

In addition to the CineStar and the Kommunal Kino KoKi, this year the KOLK 17 Puppet Theatre was added as a festival venue; with its low-barrier access and family-friendly atmosphere, it was always full.

The industry platform Lübeck Meetings, with panel discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities was once again a hit. One special part of that was Future North, the programme for young filmmakers. It is particularly exciting to note that Gabrielé Urbonaité, who presented passages from her unfinished film "Renovacija" as part of the 2024 Future North section, won two prizes in this year’s Competition sections. That underscores the long-term effect and significance of the programme.

The 2025 Nordic Film Days also marked the first week of work for the new recipients of the Lübeck Script Development Grant, who will be developing their projects in Lübeck over the next year.

And of course, last but not least, the gala Film Prize night on November 8 at Theater Lübeck capped the festival. Eleven prizes endowed with a total of 67,500 euros were awarded, a symbol of the festival’s high artistic quality and significance to the European film scene.

One poignant moment was bidding farewell to Thomas Hailer; after five successful years as artistic director of the festival, he is giving up the helm to pursue other things. Mayor Jan Lindenau praised Hailer’s commitment to a diverse festival programming, European networking, and social relevance.

On January 1, 2026 Hanna Reifgerst will take over as artistic director. Managing director Susanne Kasimir will continue to support the new artistic director in raising the festival’s profile.

The 68th Nordic Film Days Lübeck will run from November 4 – 8, 2026.

Press material
Film stills for the festival films and photos from the festival are available by writing to presse@nordische-filmtage.de and in the download area on the website.

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The Nordic Film Days Lübeck is mounted by the Hanseatic City of Lübeck and supported by the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Creative Europe MEDIA, several Lübeck foundations – the Possehl Foundation, the Gemeinnützige Sparkassenstiftung (non-profit savings bank association), and the Wessel Stiftungen, the non-profit Friends of the Nordic Film Days, and broadcaster NDR as media partner. In addition, the festival has numerous additional partners and sponsors, including CineStar, Stadtwerke Lübeck (Lübeck public utilities), STAWAG Stadtwerke Aachen AG, Finnlines, Moinsener, KOLK17, the European Hansemuseum, skanbo, the TRAVE housing association, and Convotis.

Contact
Hansestadt Lübeck - Nordic Film Days Lübeck
presse@nordische-filmtage.de