The Nordic Film Days main competition programme will open with Danish director Pernille Fischer Christensen's Dancers.

The event is the world's largest showcase of Nordic and Baltic cinema and will celebrate its 50th anniversary when it runs in Lübeck, Germany between Oct 29-Nov 2.

Other films in competition include: Finnish director Aku Louhimies' Tears of April; Icelandic director Gudny Halldorsdottir's The Quiet Storm; Norwegian director Stian Kristiansen's The Man Who Loved Yngve; Bent Hamer's O'Horten; Swedish director Jan Troell's Everlasting Moments; Daniel Alfredson's Wolf; and Estonian director Peeter Simm's Georg.

140 recent feature, documentary and short productions from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Northern Germany will screen at nine auditoria in Lübeck.

The festival has become an increasingly important annual meeting point for Nordic filmmakers and the German film industry.

'Every year 15-20 German distributors and TV buyers are here to be updated on Scandinavian productions, and to see how German audiences react to them. Some are picked up, such as last year's winner, Norway's The Art of Negative Thinking, which was launched last month (Sept).' explained programme director Linde Fröhlich.

Guests include leading Nordic filmmakers such as Jan Troell, competing for his fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film with Everlasting Moments, and Danish director Gabriel Axel, who won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988 with Babette's Feast.

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