43rd Nordische Filmtage Luebeck
November 1st - 4th 2001

The Church Prize Interfilm (donated 2.000 Marks) goes to the film:

Elling, by Petter Næss, Norway 2000

Motivation for the Prize: The Norwegian film >Elling< captivates the audience by means of its straightforward and deeply humorous story that shows in the example of two fundamentally different protagonists the fears, needs and possibilities of human existence. The former psychiatric patients Elling and Kjell Bjarne gain self-confidence and thus a greater feeling of self-value by coping with the world as we know it. In this way the director Petter Næss points to the fundamentals of human life and allows hope to arise.

Elling by Peter Næss

Honorable Mention: 

Joki / The River, by Jarmo Lampela, Finland 2000.

Interfilm-Jury:
Ilze Abrama, Stellvertretende Direktorin und Projektkoordinatorin bei Latvia Lutheran Hour, Riga, Lettland
Ylva Liljeholm, Journalistin und Filmkritikerin, Örebro, Schweden
Antje Peters-Hirt, Germanistin und Journalistin , St.-Petri-Kuratorium, Lübeck