For the first time, the festival is organising a German-Norwegian co-producers meeting as well as a film market for Scandinavian films that have not yet inked a German distribution deal. For artistic director Linde Fröhlich, (photo) this is a logical step for the festival as co-production and distribution activities between the Nordic region and Germany continue to increase. This year's competition programme for instance has no less than three co-productions with Germany out of 17 titles in total: the Norwegian films The Orange Girl (co-produced by Tradewind Pictures) and Max Manus (co-produced by B&T GmbH), as well as the Swedish film A Rational Solution (Pandora Film). Frölich also stresses the unusually high number of Norwegian films to be released in Germany over the next few months: The Orange Girl (Neue Visionen, December 10,), North (Alamode, January 7), Max Manus (Capelight, February 11) and Troubled Water (Kool Distribution, February 25).
A total of 140 films from the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as Northern Germany are screening at the festival, many supported by their on screen talent, directors, producers or/and writers. Norway's successful novelist Jostein Gaarder whose best-selling novel ‘Sophie's Choice' sold over three million copies in Germany, is attending the festival to support the films based on his eponymous novels Through a Glass, Darkly, and The Orange Girl. Nordic filmmakers attending include Norway's Rune Denstad Langlo, Gunnar Vikene, Sweden's Jörgen Bergmark, Håkon Liu, Denmark's Nils Malmos, Finland's Klaus Härö and Saara Cantell. The NDR Award of €12,500 for Best Feature Film will be given out tomorrow evening.