17/01/2006

It is no beginner's luck if the big winner of this year's Bavarian Film Awards, which took place this weekend, is the young director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (whose short films, especially Der Dobermann, have already earned him a great reputation) with his debut feature Das Leben der Anderen, a thriller depicting the invasion of privacy by the Stasi in the East Germany of the 1980s. The film won no less than four awards: Best New Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Ulrich Mühe) and the VGF Newcomer Producer Prize —which won Wiedemann & Berg 60,000 euros. Now one can only hope this film, which Buena Vista International will start distributing in Germany on March 23rd, will have the same success as its predecessor, Sophie Scholl [+see also:
trailer
film profile], big winner of the Bavarian Film Awards 2005, the producers of which (Goldkind Film and Broth Film) are this year's Best Producers and win a €200,000 prize.

The Best Director is Andreas Dresen for Summer in Berlin, a lovely portrayal of two women which attracted no less than 165,000 spectators in its first week of release (January 5th). Nina Hoss was elected Best Actress for her role in Hermine Huntgeburth's The White Masai, the German success of the year, while Sandra Hüller was distinguished as the Best Newcoming Actress in Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile] by Hans-Christian Schmid (in competition at the Berlinale). Her male counterpart is young Maw Riemelt, starring in Dominik Graf's Der rote Kakadu (also premiering in Berlin).