06/05/2019 - The biopic has been crowned Best Film and scooped five further German Film Awards

Director Andreas Dresen with producers Christoph Friedel and Claudia Steffen at the German Film Awards (© Sebastian Gabsch)

At the gala ceremony to celebrate the 69th German Film Awards, which took place on Friday evening at the Palais am Funkturm in Berlin, the Golden Lola for Best Film went to Andreas Dresen’s Gundermann [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The film, which depicts the life of East German singer-songwriter Gerhard Gundermann, emerged triumphant in most of the main categories, bringing Dresen the Award for Best Director, Alexander Scheer the trophy for Best Lead Actor and Laila Stieler the prize for Best Screenplay. Gundermann also pocketed the Awards for Best Costumes (Sabine Greunig) and Best Production Design (Susanne Hopf). Produced by Pandora Filmproduktion together with Kineo Filmproduktion, the biopic focuses on the singer’s struggles with music, his job as an excavator operator and his dealings with the secret police of the German Democratic Republic.

Four further gongs went to Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Wolfgang Fischer
film profile]. Apart from winning the Silver Lola, the refugee drama also emerged victorious in the categories of Best Cinematography (Benedict Neuenfels) and Best Sound (Andreas Turnwald, Uwe Dresch, Andre Zimmermann and Tobias Fleig), while Susanne Wolff received the honour for Best Lead Actress for her turn in the movie.

The Bronze Lola, meanwhile, was bestowed upon Caroline Link’s Der Junge muss an die frische Luft [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which also snagged the Award for the Film With the Most Viewers. Furthermore, Luise Heyer was chosen as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a vulnerable mother in the film. Meanwhile, the Award for Best Supporting Actor went to Alexander Fehling for his performance in Philipp Leinemann’s Blame Game [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. 

Talal Derki’s Oscar-nominated Of Fathers and Sons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which follows the family of a high-ranking Al-Qaeda member and his young sons, who are training to become fighters, was crowned Best Documentary. In addition, the film, which premiered last year at Sundance, also received the Award for Best Editing (for Anne Fabini). 

Despite having been nominated in five categories, Fatih Akin’s Berlinale title The Golden Glove [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
interview: Jonas Dassler
film profile] only cashed in on the Award for Best Make-up (Maike Heinlein, Daniel Schröder, Lisa Edelmann). Meanwhile, the quality of the compositions by musical group Hochzeitskapelle for Oliver Haffner’s Wackersdorf [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] was acknowledged with the Award for Best Original Score.

Finally, this year’s Honorary Award was handed to Margarethe von Trotta, director of well-known films such as The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt [+see also:
trailer
interview: Margarethe von Trotta
film profile], while Christian Becker went home with the Bernd Eichinger Prize, an award given to a German producer in recognition of his or her lifetime achievement.

Here is the full list of winners at the 2019 Lola-German Film Awards:

Golden Lola for Best Film
Gundermann [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Andreas Dresen

Silver Lola 
Styx [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Wolfgang Fischer
film profile] - Wolfgang Fischer (Germany/Austria)

Bronze Lola
Der Junge muss an die frische Luft [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Caroline Link

Best Documentary
Of Fathers and Sons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Talal Derki (Germany/Syria/Lebanon)

Best Children’s Film 
Rocca - Verändert die Welt - Katja Benrath

Best Screenplay
Laila Stieler - Gundermann

Best Director
Andreas Dresen - Gundermann

Best Lead Actress
Susanne Wolff - Styx

Best Lead Actor 
Alexander Scheer - Gundermann

Best Supporting Actress 
Luise Heyer - Der Junge muss an die frische Luft

Best Supporting Actor
Alexander Fehling – Blame Game [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Cinematography
Benedict Neuenfels - Styx

Best Editing 
Anne Fabini - Of Fathers and Sons

Best Production Design 
Susanne Hopf - Gundermann

Best Costumes
Sabine Greuning - Gundermann

Best Make-up 
Maike Heinlein, Daniel Schröder, Lisa Edelmann - The Golden Glove [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
interview: Jonas Dassler
film profile] (Germany/France)

Best Original Score
Hochzeitskapelle - Wackersdorf [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Sound 
Andreas Turnwald, Uwe Dresch, Andre Zimmermann, Tobias Fleig - Styx

Award for the Film With the Most Viewers
Der Junge muss an die frische Luft - Caroline Link

Honorary Award
Margarethe von Trotta

Bernd Eichinger Award
Christian Becker