As usual, presenter Loretta Stern led the ceremonial opening of the Film Days with confidence, even though, as she emphasized, she didn’t feel like it at all the morning after the news about the catastrophic re-election of Donald Trump as President of the USA. And the news of the end of the traffic light government in Berlin wasn’t even known yet. So, to comfort everyone, she gave the slogan: a cinema cure right now by attending the film days for the next few days so as not to fall into depression.

Then she, Susanne Kasimir (managing director) and Thomas Hailer (artistic director of the NFL), welcomed the celebrities from politics, culture and business in Lübeck, who were once again gathered in large numbers in the full hall of the Filmpalast. Among others, Mayor Lindenau, Senator for Culture Frank, but also the old guard like Björn Engholm and Thomas Gaulin were there. The future of Nordic film was then celebrated, presented by young filmmakers from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Greenland, Schleswig-Holstein and the Faroe Islands as part of the “Future North” project.

Then, as a guest and sponsor from Kiel, State Secretary Guido Wendt was asked to come forward to announce the winners of the 2nd Lübeck Screenplay Scholarship. The prize includes a payment of 35,000 euros and a one-month residency in Lübeck to advance the respective projects. With the help of the Possehl Foundation, these scholarships have now been awarded for the second time. The famous author Angelina Maccarone was honored for her feature film project “Back to Scharbeutz” by Barbara Häbe (Arte-Spielfilm), who sat on the award jury with Annika Penske and Anna Hoffmann (Berlin-Forum). The second scholarship for an author with a Lübeck connection and an open visual narrative was awarded to Anne Döring, who is planning a project entitled: “Three Colors of Time”.

Then it got really celebratory, because the undoped Honorary Prize of the Film Days was awarded. The award was given to the famous Finnish actress Kati Outinen, who is mainly known for her various leading roles in the films of her compatriot Aki Kaurismäki, 5 of whose masterpieces are now being shown at the Film Days as part of a homage. The laudatory speech was given by Jaana Puskala from the Finnish Film Foundation, who did not skimp on praise in her list of the countless projects and awards for her famous compatriot. Outinen is known for her calm but utter presence in her films. Regardless of language, Outinen always manages to portray the dignity of even simple people through her precise acting skills. “Kati Outinen’s universal humanity and their comprehensibility are characteristic of all her portrayals, no matter where they are seen.”

Afterwards, the opening film was the Latvian animated film “Flow” by the young director Gints Zilbalodis, which impresses with its wonderful imagery and the complete lack of dialogue. The only 30-page script by author and producer Matiss Kaza impressed the viewer with its imagination and openness to interpretation. It’s about a little cat who, together with four animal friends, end up on an old sailing boat due to an unspecified natural disaster. All land seems flooded and uninhabitable. The unusual group of animals consisting of a cat, a clumsy dog, a self-loving ring-tailed lemur, a snoring capybara and a proud, long-legged secretary bird sail through wild, colorful but flooded nature and deserted cities that seem historic. They have to pull together as a team, help and save each other if they want to reach habitable land again.

The beautiful animated film with its versatile main actors and an exuberantly colorful and wild environment leaves plenty of space for your own interpretation and imagination. It’s not for nothing that the film celebrated its world premiere in Cannes and has already collected awards around the world. It is also nominated as Latvia’s entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, as well as for Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards. Finally an opening film that actually everyone in the audience was happy with, despite the bleak political world situation. Pure escapism with depth. Bravo!

Photos: (c) Holger Kistenmacher