Grand opening of the 67th Nordic Film Days Lübeck

Lübeck, November 6. - The 67th Nordic Film Days Lübeck opened today with a festive celebration at the Cinestar Stadthalle cinema. This year’s edition of Europe’s premiere festival for Nordic and Baltic films launched with the German premiere of “The Last Viking” by renowned Danish director and screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen. Actor Søren Malling and producers Sidsel Hybschmann and Sisse Graum Jørgensen were in Lübeck to introduce the film to an enthusiastic audience.

Among the prominent guests at the opening ceremonies were the recipient of this year’s Honorary Prize, award-winning Norwegian director and screenwriter Bent Hamer, as well as American producer Jim Stark, a lifelong champion of independent films.

Additional guests included Peter Petereit, deputy city president, Monika Frank, Lübeck senator for culture and education, Merit Kopli, cultural attaché at the Estonian embassy, Rüdiger Alms, information officer at the Norwegian embassy, Else Kveinen, Norwegian embassy officer for culture and press, Anneli Strömqvist, cultural attaché at the Swedish embassy and Carsten Bliddal, honorary consul of Denmark. Other guests included Anette Röttger and Sophia Schiebe, members of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament, and Guido Wendt, state secretary at the Schleswig-Holstein ministry of general education and vocational training, science, research, and culture.

The opening ceremonies included the award of the Honorary Prize to Norwegian director, screenwriter, and producer Bent Hamer. American producer Jim Stark, who worked with Hamer on “Factotum”, gave the honorific speech at the award ceremony.“Bent’s films are all beautifully shot and edited, tell universal stories that anyone, anywhere can understand, with characters we all can identify with. And always, like Bent himself, his films wear their hearts on their sleeves.”

The festival also announced this year’s recipients of the Nordic Film Days’ script development grant. Please see the relevant press release.
The Nordic Film Days will present a total of 191 films in 226 public screenings between now and November 9, 2025. The screenings are complemented by numerous cooperation with cultural institutions, museums, and Lübeck’s film scene, offering local players an expanded platform for action. Some 60% percent of the programme will be available for streaming within Germany.

“We will be welcoming wonderful guests throughout the festival and the demand for tickets is already staggering”, said festival directors Thomas Hailer and Susanne Kasimir,“after a successful restructuring, the Nordic Film Days, as one of two large-scale events in Lübeck, are well positioned to meet future challenges”.

Press material:
Film stills for the festival films will be available by writing to presse@nordische-filmtage.de and in the download area on the website. 
Details of the films and the complete screening schedule is available on the festival homepage. Additional news will be posted on Facebook and Instagram.

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, 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, KOLK17, the European Hansemuseum, Moinsener, skanbo, the TRAVE housing association, Convotis, and Waldzimmer.