Kenneth Sorento’s film backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond won Best Documentary Film while the top NDR Film Prize went for the first time to Latvia’s The Pit.

The Fight for Greenland which was competing against 26 documentaries from the Baltic and Nordic region, was handed out on Saturday’s awards ceremony in Lübeck and the €5,000 Documentary Film Prize from the North DGB trade union district.

The jury praised the Danish/Greenlandic/Norwegian co-production that “showed young, politically active people taking the first steps to preserve tradition and foster Greenland’s independence”.

Sorento’s documentary was the opening film at CPH:DOX last March, and attended other festivals including Bergen and Reykjavik.

The Documentary-Special Mention award went to Beautiful Something Left Behind by Denmark’s Kahrine Philp. Denmark also won the €5,000 Interfilm Church Film Prize for Malou Reymann’s A Perfectly Normal Family starring Mikkel Boe Følsgaard.

Finland brought home four awards, on top of the minority coproduced The Pit from first-time Latvian director Dace Pūce, which picked up the heaviest €57,500 Prize.

Games People Play by first time director Jenni Toivoniemi was handed out both the €7,5000 Best Feature Debut prize and the €2,500 Baltic Film Prize-Best Nordic Film,

Eden, another debut by rising female director Ulla Heikkilä, won a Special Mention from the Children and Youth Film Jury; Forest Giant by Ville Jankeri won the €5,000 Audience Prize.

Norway picked up two Special Mentions from the main NDR Prize section for Maria Sødahl’s drama Hope and Charlotte Blom’s Diana’s Wedding, as well as the €5,000 Children’s and Youth Film Prize and a Special Mention from the Children’s Jury for Sisters, co-directed by Silje Salomonsen and Arild Østin Ommundsen. The main Children’s Prize worth €5,000 went to the B.O. hit The Crossing by Johanne Helgeland.

Sweden had a double winner in Ronnie Sandahl’s Tigers, awarded the €5,000 Best Youth Jury Prize-handed out for the first time as well as a Special Mention from the Interfilm Church Film jury.

Commenting on the awards, artistic director Linde Frölich said: “I’m very pleased about this round of prizes, which reflect the broad range of the films in competition. I’m also happy about the fact that so many of the prize winners came from female directors. Seven of the 16 Competition films were directed by women and I think the future belongs to them!” Frölich who is retiring at the end of 2020 will be replaced in 2021 by Thomas Hailer.

The Lübeck Nordic Film Days is the largest film festival in Europe dedicated to films from the Nordic, Baltic regions and Northern Germany. The 62nd edition was originally set to unfold as a hybrid event but moved fully online from November 4-8, because of Covid-19 restrictions in Germany.

Due to the popular demand, the streaming of the 146 films across Germany will be extended to November 11.