Between High Voltage and Toxic Remnants – final presentation of the third year of the Lübeck Script Development Grant in the historic
Lübeck, September 18, 2026. On Thursday, September 17, 2026, a very special year for three film talents came to an end. The closing presentation of the Lübeck Script Development was held in Lübeck’s historic Dielenhaus in the Fleischhauerstrasse 79.
How does an initial idea become a film project? What kind of research, dialogue, and experience
are invested in a story even before the first scene is written? The recipients of the Lübeck Script
Development Grant answered those questions with their final presentations. In front of numerous
listeners, they talked about their work, and about a year of intense research, artistic evolution, and
the dialogue with experts and Lübeck society.
The script grant – the only one of its kind in Germany – has been awarded annually by the Nordic
Film Days Lübeck since 2023, providing support to filmmakers as they develop new material. One
of the two grants is given to a writer who has already had a feature screenplay filmed, the second
grant goes to a recipient with a personal connection to Lübeck. Project manager Martin Rehbock
oversees the process and funding is provided by the Possehl Foundation.
The projects selected for the third year of the grant are both highly topical, although they could not
be more different. While Laurens Pérol developed a psychological thriller about the fragility of
modern society, Felix Röben and Kristina Dreit worked on an immersive video installation about
ecological changes in the Bay of Lübeck.
The year far exceeded our expectations; we had unique opportunities to refine our idea”, said Felix
Röben, “With the support of various experts, we were able to take decisive steps in furthering the
project. One high point was shooting underwater.” Fellow grantee Kristina Dreit added, “We could
experiment a lot, especially in the technical aspects, and shoot a lot of test footage for the later
realisation of our immersive video installation.”
Laurens Pérol felt that “The grant afforded me amazing space for my research, plus economic
security and a sparring partnership that is unique. I was able to travel to locations in Norway,
Sweden, Hungary, and Austria. My experiences during an internship with the Lübeck public utilities
company, and the psychological support in dealing with burnout from “The Bridge” both flowed
directly into my script. Having that opportunity was a gift.”
Society Electrified – High Tension between Burnout and Blackout
With Electrified, Laurens Pérol developed a psycho-thriller about a high-voltage electrician
overtaxed by constant emergency jobs and close to burning out, who triggers a Europe-wide
power outage. The focus of the drama is less the catastrophe itself and more the issue of how long3 / 5humans and systems can function under constantly increasing pressure. Lübeck plays a role in the
film as the eye of the needle for the power supply. One end of the Baltic Cable is at a substation in
Lübeck-Herrenwyk; it is one of only two high-voltage links between Germany and Scandinavia.
During the grant period in Lübeck, Pérol did extensive research on the city’s energy infrastructure,
among other things, and spoke with experts in the areas of science, energy supplies, and social
welfare institutions. “I see Electricity as a metaphor for our times – for output, pressure, and the
question of how much stress a person can stand”, said Pérol.
The Bay of Lübeck as the Jumping-off Point for a Poetic Audio-visual Narrative
Felix Röben and Kristina Dreit took advantage of the grant to develop deep blue screen, an
immersive video installation that combines personal recollections of the Bay of Lübeck with current
developments. The jumping-off point was salvage work started in 2024 to mitigate toxic pollution
from munitions off the coast. The installation combines historical traces of the landscape with
questions about the climate crisis, memory, and responsibility. Over the course of the year,
discussions with residents, scientists, and environmental specialist flowed directly into the project
development. “The idea for deep blue screen was charged by our shared perception and
experience – a feeling of nostalgia, scepticism and, at the same time, sorrow about the changes to
a landscape so closely linked to our childhood. Talking to people who grew up with that landscape
just as we did is a central component of our project.”
About the grant recipients
Laurens Pérol is a screenwriter and director who lives in Germany, Norway, and Austria. He
moved to Norway in 2017 to study for a bachelor’s degree in moving images at Nordland College
of Art and Film. He then got a master’s in film directing in 2023 at the Film Academy Vienna.
Pérol’s short films have been shown at international festivals and won awards. His international
breakthrough came with his feature debut Practice (orig. title: Å Øve). The film celebrated its world
premiere at the Norwegian International Film Festival, won the critics award at the Hof International
Film Festival, and the award for best debut film at the 2023 Nordic Film Days Lübeck. It went on to
be screened at more than 30 festivals, from New York to South Korea, as well as opening
theatrically in several countries.
Felix Röben grew up in Neustadt in Germany’s Holstein region and played football in the under-19
class for VfB Lübeck before studying social and media sciences in Iceland and film and video
communication in India. His essayistic work has been shown at international festivals such as
Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA). Kristina Dreit hails from Eutin in
northern Germany and is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher at the intersection of
performance, installations, and video. Her work has been seen in the Berlinische Galerie modern
art museum, at the Berliner Festspielen, and the Sophiensaelen performing arts cenre. She had
her first, formative encounters with arthouse films in Lübeck’s own Koki cinema.
4 / 5Pressekontakt:
Press contact:
Hansestadt Lübeck – Nordische Filmtage Lübeck
Hanseatic City of Lübeck – Nordic Film Days Lübeck
presse@nordische-filmtage.de
presse@nordische-filmtage.de
+49 (0) 451 122 1331
+49 (0) 451 122 1331
Weiterführende Informationen unter
More information: www.nordische-filmtage.de/en
www.nordische-filmtage.de
Press photos for download
Pressefotos zum Download
