At the German Film Awards, “Nothing New in the West” wins the most awards on Friday evening. The Golden Lola for the best feature film, however, surprisingly goes to a different production.
The drama “Das Lehrerzimmer” by Ilker Çatak about a conflict in a school has been awarded the Golden Lola at the German Film Awards. The Film Academy announced the decision on Friday evening in Berlin. Actress Leonie Benesch plays a teacher who wants to solve a series of thefts at her school and decides to secretly run a camera in the staff room.
The film, which is currently in cinemas, won a total of five awards. For example, Benesch was honored as best leading actress, Çatak for best director. In the past, the filmmaker has shot “The spoken word counts” about a marriage of convenience.
The favorite anti-war drama “Nothing New in the West” won the most awards with nine awards, including the Lola in silver. Director Edward Berger’s film about the First World War is based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970).
The film had already won four Oscars in the US in March. In Berlin he was honored on Friday evening for music, camera work and sound design. The two actors Felix Kammerer and Albrecht Schuch each received a Lola for best leading actor and best supporting actor. The bronze Lola went to the thriller “Holy Spider” about a woman murderer in Iran.
Honorary award for Volker Schlöndorff
Director Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum”) was honored with the Academy’s honorary award for outstanding services to German film. Hollywood star John Malkovich and other filmmakers paid tribute to his work via video.
The award for the documentary went to “Elfriede Jelinek – Letting the language off the leash”. “Mission Ulja Funk” was best children’s film. “The School of Magical Animals 2” received an award for the best-attended film. Actress Jördis Triebel was honored as best supporting actress for her role in “In a country that no longer exists”.
The German Film Prize is one of the most important awards in the industry. The nominations and awards are endowed with a total of around three million euros for new projects. The money comes from the house of Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens). Around 1,600 guests were invited to the award ceremony in the theater on Potsdamer Platz. The evening was moderated by Jasmin Shakeri.
Roth: We cannot tolerate a climate of fear
At the beginning, Roth called for an open discussion of abuses in the industry. “We’re also here to clearly identify problems: relationships of dependency, abuse of power, physical assaults, sexualised violence on the set.” Anyone who openly criticizes grievances, “who demands that they be stopped and is ostracized as a polluter” – can count on her support.
It needs an honest and open discussion. It must be possible to talk about what is going wrong and what can be improved, about what structures need to be changed so that a film set is a place where films are made in a good, creative and constructive working atmosphere. “We cannot and do not want to tolerate a climate of fear,” said Roth. What stands in the way, they can change together.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
