Which film will win the Golden Lola? Will the drama “Die” take home the award for best feature film or will the multiverse thriller “The Theory of Everything”? The German Film Prize, one of the industry’s most important awards, will be presented this evening in Berlin.
Actor Simon Morzé has already been honored during the current awards ceremony. He won the German Film Prize for Best Actor. The Austrian received the award for his role in the historical film “The Fox”. In it, he plays an Austrian soldier named Franz, who raises a young fox during World War II.
Director Ayşe Polat received a German Film Award for the best screenplay for her political thriller “Im dead Winkel”. Polat accepted the award in Berlin and dedicated the prize to “all women who courageously fight for justice and freedom.” “In the Blind Spot” is about the difficulties faced by a crew who want to film a documentary in northeastern Turkey and are observed while doing so. Strange incidents occur.
A moderation ensemble will lead the evening, including actress Jasna Fritzi Bauer (“Tatort”) and actor Jürgen Vogel (“Caveman”). Das Erste will broadcast the award ceremony live in the media library at 7:30 p.m. and on linear television at 10:20 p.m.
Good mood on the red carpet
Melles and Wittgenstein
Ferres with daughter
Alexandra Maria Lara/Florian Gallenberger
Glasner and Harfouch
Roth: “Art is an approach to humanity”
At the German Film Awards ceremony, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth described art as a gateway to humanity in times of crisis. “We are not celebrating in order to forget, but because we know: art is a gateway to humanity,” said Roth in Berlin. Above all, it is a way “to let ourselves be moved by feeling, looking and hearing and to understand what makes us human.”
Roth recalled the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas, the suffering of the population in the Gaza Strip, the Iranian rapper Tumaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death, and the situation in Sudan.
“I don’t think anyone, no one here remains untouched by the misery of violence, by the uncertainty, by the increasing division in society, by the massive threats to which democracy and culture are exposed,” said Roth. But in every second of celebration, the others would not be forgotten. “This is how we can and should celebrate, because we celebrate the film, its artistic, its narrative, its social power.”
Lessons from the Berlinale closing gala?
Director Florian Gallenberger and actress Alexandra Maria Lara jointly head the German Film Academy, which awards the film prize. When asked whether lessons could be learned from the debate surrounding the controversial Berlinale closing gala for the awards ceremony, Gallenberger said: “My great wish and my great hope is that on May 3 we can concentrate entirely on the film awards and their award ceremony, and give these other very important topics the right space to discuss them, but that is not on the evening of the film awards.”
During the closing gala of the Berlinale in February, the Middle East conflict was one-sidedly discussed by jury members and award winners. In statements, for example, there was talk of apartheid in the context of the situation in the territories occupied by Israel and of genocide with a view to the army’s actions in Gaza.
“People will receive awards, they will then go to the microphone and give acceptance speeches,” said Gallenberger. “What they say in these acceptance speeches is not checked, should not be checked, is the laureates’ free decision. If there is someone there who wants to express themselves politically, then he or she will do so. The difficult thing is that this Topics are controversial, including among the members of the Academy. I really hope that we don’t end up in a situation in which these conflicts, which are already overshadowing our lives at the moment, also overshadow this evening.”
Awards in a total of 19 categories
Similar to the Oscars in the USA, the more than 2,200 members of the film academy in Germany also vote on the winners. In total, prizes will be awarded in 19 categories, including acting and directing. “The Theory of Everything” received six nominations, “The Fox” received five.
The prizes and nominations are endowed with a total of around three million euros in public money. The money comes from Minister of State for Culture Roth’s house. In 2023, Ilker Çatak’s drama “The Teacher’s Room” about a conflict at a school won the Golden Lola, and the film was later nominated for an Oscar.