26/04/2020 - Nora Fingscheidt’s movie has won the Golden Lola as well as seven other German Film Awards

Host Edin Hasanović and the nominees in the Best Director category: Burhan Qurbani, Nora Fingscheidt (winner) and Ilker Çatak (© Florian Liedel/German Film Academy)

Nora Fingscheidt’s System Crasher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile] won big at the unusual ceremony held for the 70th edition of the German Film Awards, which took place on Friday evening as a special live TV presentation. Renouncing the traditional gala on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the German Film Awards were presented in a new format this year, with only a few of the award presenters and invited musicians joining host Edin Hasanović on the “stage” of an empty studio hall in Berlin, and all filmmakers and nominees, as well as several other guests, taking part via video feed from their homes.

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Despite technical difficulties, such as poor internet connections, the ceremony proceeded fairly smoothly, and 21 awards were handed out. No fewer than eight Lolas went to Fingscheidt’s System Crasher, which follows a nine-year-old girl’s struggle with the German child protection services and competed for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.

Culture Minister Monika Grütters and Ulrich Matthes, president of the German Film Academy, appeared on stage to the tune of 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” before Matthes presented the Golden Lola to the producers of System Crasher, who agreed to join in with the ceremony via video link. Despite having a poor internet connection, Nora Fingscheidt was also able to join in from Vancouver and accept the Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

The film also emerged triumphant in the categories of Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Lead Actor. Albrecht Schuch, who was crowned Best Lead Actor for his performance in System Crasher, also received the Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part in Berlin Alexanderplatz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burhan Qurbani
film profile] by Burhan Qurbani, thus scooping both of the prizes earmarked for male actors.

Berlin Alexanderplatz, which was one of the Golden Bear contenders at this year’s Berlinale, also received the Silver Lola: the second-highest-ranking prize in the Best Picture category. The film, set in the present day and inspired by Alfred Döblin’s novel, also snagged the Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design.

As for the Bronze Lola, this went to I Was, I Am, I Will Be [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ilker Çatak, a romantic drama that centres on Baran, a Kurdish gigolo, and Marion, a German pilot, who meet in Marmaris and decide to enter into a sham marriage.

Furthermore, Born in Evin [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which follows director Maryam Zaree on her quest to find out the circumstances surrounding her birth inside a political prison, was crowned with the Best Documentary gong, while Caroline Link’s When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit [+see also:
trailer
film profile] received the Award for Best Children’s Film.

During the German Film Awards presentation, the Lolas for Best Costumes and Best Make-up were bestowed upon Hermine Huntgeburth’s Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a film that depicts the youth of famous German rock musician Udo Lindenberg as well as the beginnings of his career. Meanwhile, Bora Dağtekin’s Das perfekte Geheimnis [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the German remake of Paolo Genovese’s 2016 couples comedy Perfect Strangers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], received the Audience Award for the Highest-grossing Film of the Year.

This year’s Honorary Award for Outstanding Contributions to German Cinema, already announced on 5 March, went to Edgar Reitz. The director, renowned for his Heimat film series, which chronicles life in small German villages beginning in the 19th century and continuing through most of the 20^th, was able to join this year’s German Film Awards via video and expressed his hope that people will soon be able to watch films in movie theatres again.

Lastly, the newly established Award for Best Visual Effects and Animation went to Jan Stoltz and Claudius Urban for The Kangaroo Chronicles [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a film based on Marc-Uwe Kling’s book of the same name, which depicts the encounter between a hipster musician and a communist kangaroo.

Here is the full list of winners of the 2020 Lolas-German Film Awards:

Golden Lola for Best Film
System Crasher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile] - Nora Fingscheidt

Silver Lola
Berlin Alexanderplatz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burhan Qurbani
film profile] - Burhan Qurbani (Germany/Netherlands)

Bronze Lola
I Was, I Am, I Will Be [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Ilker Çatak (Germany/France)

Best Documentary
Born in Evin [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Maryam Zaree (Germany/Austria)

Best Children’s Film
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Caroline Link (Germany/Switzerland)

Best Screenplay
Nora Fingscheidt - System Crasher

Best Director
Nora Fingscheidt - System Crasher

Best Lead Actress
Helena Zengel - System Crasher

Best Lead Actor
Albrecht Schuch - System Crasher

Best Supporting Actress
Gabriela Maria Schmeide - System Crasher

Best Supporting Actor
Albrecht Schuch - Berlin Alexanderplatz

Best Cinematography
Yoshi Heimrath - Berlin Alexanderplatz

Best Editing
Stephan Bechinger, Julia Kovalenko - System Crasher

Best Production Design
Silke Buhr - Berlin Alexanderplatz

Best Costumes
Sabine Böbbis - Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Make-up
Astrid Weber, Hannah Fischleder - Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding

Best Original Music Score
Dascha Dauenhauer - Berlin Alexanderplatz

Best Sound
Corinna Zink, Jonathan Schorr, Dominik Leube, Oscar Stiebitz, Gregor Bonse - System Crasher

Best Visual Effects and Animation
Jan Stoltz, Claudius Urban - The Kangaroo Chronicles [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Audience Award for the Highest-grossing Film of the Year
Das perfekte Geheimnis [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Bora Dagtekin

Honorary Award for Outstanding Contributions to German Cinema
Edgar Reitz