15/05/2006

The 56th German Film Awards – Lolas were held in Berlin on May 12, taking place earlier than usual to unveil films before the busy summer period gets underway. German Minister of Culture Bernd Neumann distributed €2,845,000 to winners in the 15 categories.

The 700-member German Film Academy awarded several prizes to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s debut feature, The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile] (Das Leben der Anderen).

The film picked up no less than seven Lolas, including Best Film (awarded to Wiedermann & Berg Filmproduktion) and Best Director. Against the advice of certain producers, the director dared to make a film about a Stasi officer torn between duty and his moral obligations, who must spy on the private life of a liberal-thinking artist couple. The film’s two leading actors, Ulrich Mühe and Ulrich Tukur each won awards, for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

The other big winner of the evening was Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile] (see news) by Hans-Christian Schmid whose leading actress Sandra Hüller – winner of a Silver Bear in Berlin – picked up a second award, as did co-star Imogen Kogge, who was voted Best Supporting Actress.

The drama also won the Silver Lola for Best Film ex-aequo with Tough Enough [+see also:
trailer
film profile], in which Detlev Buck describes the arrival of a teenager in a "difficult" neighborhood, whose three Lolas surprised audiences given the film’s disappointing box-office results (see news).

Other winners included The Cave of the Yellow Dog [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Byambasuren Davaa (Best Children’s/Youth Film) and Lost Children by Oliver Stoltz (Best Documentary).

It was a pleasant and good-humoured ceremony marked by optimism for the industry. Minister Neumann sees 2006 as an important milestone for German cinema and ironically pointed out the absence of German cinema at the Cannes Film Festival.

Winners:

Golden Lola for Best Film: The Lives of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Wiedermann & Berg Filmproduktion)

Silver Lola for Best Film: ex-acqeoTough Enough by Detlev Buck (Boje und Buck Produktion) and Requiem by Hans-Christian Schmid (23/5 Filmproduktion)

Best Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for The Lives of Others

Best Documentary: Lost Children (Director: Oliver Stoltz)

Best Children's/Youth Film: The Cave Of The Yellow Dog (Director: Byambasuren Davaa)

Best Actress: Sandra Hueller, Requiem

Best Actor: Ulrich Muehe, The Lives of Others

Best Supporting Actress: Imogen Kogge, Requiem

Best Supporting Actor: Ulrich Tukur, The Lives of Others

Best Photography: Hagen Bogdanski, The Lives of Others

Best Editing: Dirk Grau Tough Enough

Best Production Design: Silke Buhr, The Lives of Others

Best Costume Design: Bettina Marx, Requiem

Best Film Score: Bert Wrede, Tough Enough

Best Sound Design: Lars Ginzel, Dirk Jacob, Marc Parisotto, Martin Steyer, Requiem

Best Screenplay: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives of Others

Lifetime Achievement Lola: Erna Baumbauer

(Translated from French)