The drama “Dear Thomas” won nine awards at the German Film Awards, including the Golden Lola for the best feature film. Director Andreas Kleinert tells about the life of the writer Thomas Brasch (1945-2001). The film received awards for direction and screenplay, among other things, as the German Film Academy announced on Friday evening in Berlin.
Albrecht Schuch, who plays Thomas, was honored as the best leading actor. The 36-year-old won his third Lola after “Systemsprenger” and “Berlin Alexanderplatz”. Actress Jella Haase was honored for her performance in “Dear Thomas” as best supporting actress. The other two acting awards were for performances in the drama “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”: Meltem Kaptan was honored as best leading actress, Alexander Scheer for best supporting male role. The film by Andreas Dresen also won a silver Lola, while the bronze award went to “Große Freiheit”.
The German Film Prize is considered the most important national award in the industry. The awards are associated 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. Around 1700 people were invited to the award ceremony at the Berlin exhibition center.
“The war changes everything, even an evening like this”
During the evening, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine was recalled several times. Wladimir Klitschko sent a video message. Minister of State for Culture Roth also recalled the war: It was not even 1000 kilometers from here to Lviv, to the Ukrainian border. “The war changes everything, even an evening like this,” said Roth. Is it still possible to celebrate the film? “You can’t just do it – you should, you have to.” The Greens politician called on the film industry to reflect on their strength. “We need the power of art. The power of literature. And the power of film.” Not to distract from the misery of the world, but to counteract it.
Sent a video message during the award ceremony: Wladimir Klitschko with a message from Ukraine.
(Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa)
The evening was moderated by Katrin Bauerfeind. Actor Ulrich Tukur took out the accordion during the show. Christoph Maria Herbst acted as if he had missed his assignment, then said “Ms. Roth, can you just do that…” and pressed his snack into her hand. He joked on stage about the vegetarian catering (“Could eat the cardboard box by mistake, won’t notice the difference. No, kidding.”) and presented best female lead (“Great. Only women.”).
Among the guests were actor Matthias Schweighöfer, actress Heike Makatsch and other celebrities. Actress Alexandra Maria Lara and director Florian Gallenberger appeared as the new top management of the German Film Academy. The two also thanked their predecessor Ulrich Matthes on stage.
Honorary award for cameraman Jürgen Jürges
The approximately 2,100 members of the German Film Academy had voted on many of the award winners. A total of six productions were nominated for the best feature film – in addition to “Dear Thomas”, “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush” and “Great Freedom”, the comedy “Contra”, the episodic film “Beautiful” and the drama “Spencer” were nominated. Cameraman Jürgen Jürges received an honorary award for outstanding services to German film. He has worked with directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder (“Fear Eats Soul”), Michael Haneke (“Funny Games”) and Uli Edel (“Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo”).
The children’s film “The School of Magical Animals” was recognized as the most popular film. Best documentary film was “The Other Side of the River”, best children’s film “The Path”. The Bernd Eichinger Prize went to Maren Ade, Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach from the Berlin production company Komplizen Film. Last year, the tragic comedy “I am your human” won the award for best feature film.