Matthias Glasner’s drama “Die” about a broken family was awarded the Golden Lola at the German Film Prize. The German Film Academy announced this on Friday evening in Berlin. The The three-hour film won a total of four awards: In addition to the best film music (Lorenz Dangel), Corinna Harfouch was honored as best actress, Hans-Uwe Bauer for the best male supporting role.
“Dying” is a complex and, above all, ruthless drama. But contrary to what the title suggests, “dying” is actually a film about life in all its facets: love, grief, loss, death and birth. The starting point is the death of father Gerd (Bauer), who suffers from dementia. The forces the members of the Lunies family to deal with each other again. Love, affection and warmth of heart are foreign words to them. The situation escalates when it becomes clear that the seriously ill mother (Harfouch) is also nearing the end of her life.
As he accepted the award, director Glasner said on stage: “I have to admit, it was a really exciting evening. I’m pretty freaked out, to be honest.” Actor Lars Eidinger, who was nominated as best actor for “Die”, congratulated via live video link.
The Historical film “The Fox” by Adrian Goiginger about the strange relationship between a soldier and a fox during World War II Lola won silver. Actor Simon Morzé received an award for best male lead. The Lola in Bronze went to the political thriller “Im dead Winkel” by Ayse Polat. The director also won a film award for best direction and best screenplay.
© dpa/Sebastian Christoph Gollnow
The Austrian Adele Neuhauser took the role of Lola as best supporting actress in the drama “15 Years” took home. 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 Theater am Potsdamer Platz for the award ceremony. Laudators included the recently Oscar-nominated actress Sandra Hülser and the director of the Oscar-nominated film “The Teacher’s Room”, Ilker Çatak.
Compared to last year there were no clear winner. In 2023, “The Teacher’s Room” won four other awards in addition to the Golden Lola for the best feature film, the anti-war film “Nothing New in the West” by Edward Berger, which won four awards at the Oscars, even received nine awards.
The honorary laureate 2024, Hanna Schygulla, got lost on stage – and caused laughter and an amused audience. The German Film Academy honored the 80-year-old for her outstanding contributions to German film. Schygulla (“The Marriage of Maria Braun”) said: “So much honor. I used to hate the word at all. But now I feel like it’s good for me too.”
When the organizers played music to mark the end of the speech, Schygulla remained on stage. As an icon, she also likes to stand out from the crowd, she said.
The Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer made an urgent appeal to filmmakers. “When I came back 14 years ago, I could never have imagined what is going on in public now. That’s how it started back then,” said the 102-year-old. “There are a lot of storytellers in this room. You have a responsibility to use the power of film to ensure that something like this never happens again,” she said. (dpa)