The 62^nd edition of the Lübeck Nordic Film Days will take place in a hybrid form, comprising both online and live events. The festival showcases new releases from the Nordics, the Baltics and from northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg) and is the only European event to put a spotlight on the region’s cinemas.

The gathering, set to take place from 4-8 November, will host screenings and events at the festival’s cinemas and other venues in the city, in compliance with the required coronavirus guidelines. Meanwhile, online participation will be encouraged to compensate for the limited live audience.

This year, Lübeck-based outfit cbb software GmbH has come on board as a new sponsor, donating €5,000 as an endowment for the Youth Jury Prize. This new accolade will put a spotlight on films for and about the youth, and will be awarded in the festival sections that are dedicated to dealing with their issues on film. The jury will consist of four members aged 13-17, who will select the winning movies during the festival.

The special retrospective, entitled Fishermen’s Films – Fishing in Nordic and Baltic Cinema, will conclude the section’s Baltic cycle, begun in 2018 and spread across the last three years. In this section, both fiction films and documentaries will “illuminate a traditional profession that hovers between natural idyll and commercial industry.” Moreover, retrospective curator Jörg Schöning is particularly pleased with “the excellent quality of three newly-restored narrative features from Estonia,” namely Viktor Nevežin’s Rocks Under Water (1959), Jüri Müür’s Men From the Fisherman’s Village (1961) and Arvo Kruusement’s The Smacking Sea (1981).

Speaking about the unusual circumstances surrounding this year’s edition, artistic director  Linde Fröhlich said: “Our plan to hold the festival live in Lübeck’s cinemas and other venues and complement that with selected online events sends an important message and we have already received very positive feedback on that. As a premiere event in the city of Lübeck, we want to give local residents and guests from the region, who have missed so much in the last few months, a chance to enjoy culture and films together in cinemas. As part of the international film community, we want to put the focus on the cinemas and at the same time, in cooperation with productions companies, film institutions, distributors, and international salespeople, send a message about keeping cinema culture alive and supporting live encounters between filmmakers and their audiences.”

The full programme of the Nordic Film Days will be announced on 20 October.