The Danish feature film “No Rest for the Wicked” (German title: “Eine Matrosengeschichte”) won the NDR Film Prize at the 68th Nordische Filmtagen Lübeck. The festival announced that the top prize, amounting to 12,500 euros, was awarded on Saturday evening during the Film Prize Night at Theater Lübeck to director Kasper Kalle. The laudation was delivered by Estonian filmmaker Anna Hints.
The film tells the story of forbidden love between two men on the Faroe Islands in 1862: A young fisherman named Baldur rescues a Danish sailor, Helge, from the sea during a storm, and Helge moves in with him and his mother. When the two are torn apart by a tragedy, Baldur’s longing releases, according to the distribution company, “a mystical force from dark antiquity” — and what began as a romance becomes a vampire story.
Jury: The film celebrates “true love in an impressively unique way”
“True love is rare, fragile and often threatened. In this Romeo-and-Romeo story, we felt how passionate it can be,” reads the jury’s rationale. “In a village on a remote island whose landscape seems as old as time itself, two people fall in love. The island is rough. The people are even rougher. Yet nothing can separate these lovers. Not even death.”
Direct link | German trailer for the film
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The jury also commented on the venue: in Lübeck, “where Nosferatu once came to life,” it was a great honor to “award a film that brings vampires back to the city — to celebrate true love in an impressively unique way.” Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau had shot parts of his 1922 silent classic in this Hanseatic city.
There was much about the film that the jury did not expect, juror Rike Steyer told NDR. The pivot to vampire lore could have been confusing. “But it was simply beautifully told — and with the imagery of the Faroe Islands, we were so close to the characters that every minute felt immersive.”
Kasper Kalle, according to NDR, was overwhelmed: “I am so, so happy. This film means a great deal to me. It is very personal. I think it is very important that we continue to fight for justice.”
Based on the work of pioneer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
The film is based on the short story “Manor” by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, published in 1884. It is regarded as one of the first modern literary works to explicitly tell a gay love story. “A milestone in queer history, and yet very few people know of its existence,” Kalle writes in his Director’s Statement.
The director also draws on his own experiences in his second feature: “I am gay, and in my small hometown that was basically the worst thing you could be.” He explains the connection between queer love and horror this way: “Under the forbidden desire lies a seed of fear, and for queer people who grew up hiding their true selves, horror speaks the language of their fears and their shame.”
The lead role of Baldur is played by model Egor Venned in his first film role. At the Fantasia International Film Festival, he was already recognized as an outstanding performer. The German release of “Eine Matrosengeschichte” is set for March 25, 2027, distributed by Salzgeber.
Two awards for Sami film
A honorable mention from the NDR jury went to “Ulya” by Latvian director Viesturs Kairišs. Two other honors went to “Brace Your Heart” by Swedish director Amanda Kernell, about a young Sámi woman who inherits her father’s herd of reindeer: the film won the Audience Award and the INTERFILM Church Prize. The prize for the best feature debut, presented by actor Jürgen Vogel, went to Dane Mads Mengel for “The Guest”.
In total, the juries awarded eleven prizes with a combined prize money of 70,000 euros. The festival, which showcased 186 films this year, concludes on Sunday. More than half of the program remains available online through November 15.
