06/05/2024 - After its award at this year's Berlinale, Matthias Glasner's drama starring Lars Eidinger and Corinna Harfouch took home four prizes, while Ayşe Polat's thriller took three

Matthias Glasner clutches the Golden Lola for Best Feature Film for Dying (© Eventpress DFP 2024)

The 74th edition of the Lola awards was hosted by actors and presidents of the Deutsche Filmakademie Alexandra, Maria Lara and Florian Gallenberger, last Friday in Berlin. As tradition would have it, German Culture Minister Claudia Roth was present, expressing her support for the arts. Unlike last year, not one performer but a team of seven actors and actresses moderated the show, which ensured a full stage and a long evening. The German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the organiser of the Lola awards, provided, together with a series of partners, prizes totalling €3 million, spread across 20 different categories.

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Two titles were in a head-to-head competition. After a Berlinale Best Screenplay win, Matthias Glasner’s Dying [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matthias Glasner
film profile] won the Golden Lola for Best Feature Film. The three hours-long tour de force through the life of several characters who deal in different ways with death stars Lars Eidinger and Corinna Harfouch, among others. The film was nominated in eight more categories and also won the Golden Lola for Best Leading Actress, which went to Corinna Harfouch, the Golden Lola for Best Supporting Actor, given to Hans-Uwe Bauer, and finally the Golden Lola for Best Original Score.

The second film that took home several awards – a total of three – was In the Blind Spot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ayşe Polat
film profile] by German-Kurdish director Ayşe Polat. Premiered in the 2023 Berlinale Encounters section, the thriller-drama is set in Turkey and courageously centres on the Kurdish community, going beyond stereotypes. In The Blind Spot won the Bronze Lola for Best Feature Film, the Golden Lola for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Three Lolas were also awarded to Timm Kröger’s black and white tragicomedy The Universal Theory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Timm Kröger
film profile], which premiered in Competition in Venice. It received the Lola for Best Cinematography, the Lola for Best Visual Effects and the Lola for Best Production Design.

Adrian Goiginger’s The Fox [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrian Goiginger
film profile] won a total of two Lolas out of the five it was nominated for, namely the Silver Lola for Best Feature Film and the Golden Lola for Best Leading Actor, which went to Simon Morzé.

Two other Lolas went to Steffi Niederzoll’s compelling documentary Seven Winters in Tehran [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which tells the story of a young woman wrongly imprisoned and executed by the Iranian government. It won the Golden Lola for Best Editing and the Golden Lola for Best Documentary.

Two Lolas went to Simon Verhoeven’s Milli Vanilli biopic Girl You Know it's True, which won the Lolas for Best Costumes and Best Make-up.

The Golden Lola for Best Children's Film was awarded to Soleen Yusef’s Winners [+see also:
interview: Soleen Yusef
film profile], while the Golden Lola for Best Supporting Actress went to Austrian Adele Neuhauser for her performance in Chris Kraus’ 15 Years.

The full list of winners:

Golden Lola for Best Feature Film
Dying [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matthias Glasner
film profile] – Matthias Glasner

Silver Lola
The Fox [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrian Goiginger
film profile] – Adrian Goiginger (Germany/Austria)

Bronze Lola
In the Blind Spot [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ayşe Polat
film profile] – Ayşe Polat

Best Director
Ayşe Polat - In the Blind Spot

Best Screenplay
Ayşe Polat - In the Blind Spot

Best Leading Actress
Corinna Harfouch - Dying

Best Leading Actor
Simon Mozé – The Fox

Best Supporting Actress
Adele Neuhauser – 15 Years (Germany/Austria/Luxembourg)

Best Supporting Actor
Hans-Uwe Bauer – Dying

Best Cinematography
Roland Stuprich – The Universal Theory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Timm Kröger
film profile], (Germany/Austria/Switzerland)

Best Editing
Seven Winters in Tehran [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Steffi Niederzoll (Germany/France)

Best Sound
Michael Schlömer, Corinna Fleig, Tobias Fleig – The Dive (Germany/Malta/France)

Best Original Music Score
Lorenz Dangel – Dying

Best Production Design
Cosima Vellenzer, Anika Klatt - The Universal Theory

Best Costumes
Ingken Benesch – Girl You Know it's True

Best Make-up
Alisza Pfeifer, Christina Baier – Girl You Know It's True

Best Visual Effects and Animation
Kariem Saleh, Adrian Meyer – The Universal Theory

Best Documentary
Seven Winters in Tehran – Steffi Niederzoll

Best Children's Film
Winners [+see also:
interview: Soleen Yusef
film profile] – Soleen Yusuf

Award for the Highest-grossing Film of the Year
Die drei ??? – Erbe des Drachen – Tim Dünschede

Honorary Award for Outstanding Contributions to German Cinema
Hanna Schygulla