”There will be a strong focus on Norway in Lübeck this year,” explained artistic director Linde Fröhlich, who has selected 12 Norwegian features, seven documentaries and six shorts for various sections of her programme, which includes 130 films from 10 North European countries.

For its 50th anniversary last year, the Nordic Film Days registered 24,000 admissions.

The romantic fairy tale “The Orange Girl” (Appelsinpiken) from Norway was the opening film of the 51st Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany on Nov. 4.

The third feature film by director Eva Dahr is based on the novel of the same name by the Norwegian bestselling author Jostein Gaarder. “The Orange Girl” is a co-production by Helgeland Film from Norway, Tradewind Pictures from Germany and Jaleo Films from Spain. The film will be released in German cinemas by Neue Visionen Filmverleih on Dec. 10, 2009.

In a tramway, Jan-Olav meets the “Orange Girl”, an enigmatic beauty with a bag full of juicy oranges under her arm. From this day on, Jan-Olav is enchanted by the orange girl and she becomes the love of his life. But the orange girl keeps slipping away from him and Jan-Olav must apply a great deal of inventiveness to keep seeking her out.

Many years later, the young man Georg receives a letter that contains the life story of his early deceased father. Young Georg delves deep into his father’s accounts whilst on a winter trip through the mountainous landscapes of Norway. As the “Orange Girl’s” relevance for his own future begins to dawn on him, he comes across the beautiful Stella in the midst of the snowed-in mountains, and he too finds love – as his father did before him.

Director Eva Dahr has directed a romantic fairy tale full of poetic moments and enchanting images after Jostein Gaarder’s bestselling novel of the same name from 2003. “The Orange Girl” was shot in Norway, Erfurt and Seville.

Read more about the film on Nfi.no

Photo: Fredrik Naumann/Felix Features