The evening begins with a shock: all the guests have already taken their seats in the baroque splendor of the Cuvilliés Theater. Then the bell rings, someone steps onto the stage and tells everyone to leave the building. Fire alarm! It’s hard to imagine what it would have meant if a fire had really broken out in Munich’s most valuable theater space.
Its unique wooden interior was removed in 1944, shortly before the bombing raid on March 18th that hit Munich in World War II and completely destroyed the building. This is the only reason why Germany’s most important rococo theater has survived to this day. The fact that the “German Film Peace Prize – The Bridge” has been awarded in this context since 2002 is therefore even more symbolic.
The ceremony for the 23rd awards ceremony can finally begin, three quarters of an hour late. The award was initiated by Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss, the widow of actor and director Bernhard Wicki, whose film “The Bridge” is one of the most impressive anti-war films in cinema history. Every year, it honors international and German works that are particularly committed to peaceful coexistence between people – including in social, societal and political terms.
This year, director Jonathan Glazer will receive the award for his Oscar-winning film “Zone of Interest” about the everyday life of the family of Auschwitz camp commander Rudolf Höß. The award for outstanding actor goes to Christian Friedel, who plays Höß in the film. Sandra Hüller, who has already received numerous awards for his wife’s role, will be on stage at the Residenztheater next door at exactly the same time with a fantastic solo performance.
A special prize goes to journalist Mstyslav Chernov for the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”. In the National category, director Julia von Heinz accepts the award for “Treasure” – from the hands of British film star and poet Stephen Fry (“Oscar Wilde”). Fry plays the father in the story of a daughter and father who travel to Poland to search for his Jewish roots. His laudation is one of the highlights of the evening.
Another, very wistful one, is an announcement by Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss. She is one of the most delicate and at the same time most assertive personalities in Bavaria’s cultural life. Hardly a prime minister, film producer, manager, actress or presenter could have resisted her specific requests for support for the award. “The Bridge”, named after her late husband’s most important work, has long been her life’s work. But now, she says, for reasons of her health, she is handing over responsibility for the award to Katrin Strauch.
In recent years, Strauch has helped a lot to manage all the organizational work involved in the award ceremony. She works for the event agency Gral. And so on this evening, all the guests will move on to the Bayerischer Hof, where the party will traditionally take place afterwards – happy, but this time also a little sad.