Berlin.
Contrary to expectations, the German Film Prize did not go to the anti-war drama “Nothing New in the West”. However, the film won most of the awards.
At the German film prize has the literary adaptation “Nothing new in the West” by director Edward Berger nine awards won. The Golden Lola for the best feature film went to the drama though “The teacher’s room”, as the Film Academy announced on Friday evening (May 12) in Berlin. In it, director Ilker Çatak tells of a conflict at a school that is getting out of hand. The film with actress Leonie Benesch won five prizes.
“The Teacher’s Room” wins five prizes: Leonie Benesch best actress
Benish plays a teacher who wants to solve a series of thefts at her school and decides to secretly let a camera run in the staff room. Benes was for it as best main actress honored.
fork received the lola for that best directing. Upon accepting the award, he said he grew up watching Fatih Akin’s films. “He was a lighthouse and I could look up to him. And I thank you for that, Fatih.” Çatak has also shot “The spoken word counts” in the past.
His new film has quite a pull. He shows one Microcosm between stacks of paper in the staff room and sports mats in the gym. A world that many still remember, even if their school days are long gone. The film is currently showing in cinemas and tells something about dynamics that can develop between people. And it can be understood as a commentary on a culture of debate that is more about outrage than mutual understanding.
Read here: “The teachers’ room”: With idealism against the school system
German Film Prize: “Nothing New in the West” wins the most prizes
The Anti-war drama “Nothing New in the West”which had been a favorite after its success in Hollywood, won the most awards with nine Lolas, but missed the main prize. Instead, he received the Lola in silver. The film about the First World War is based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970). He had won four Oscars in the United States.
According to the Film Academy, “Nothing New in the West” was the first production by a streaming provider to be nominated for the German Film Prize. In Berlin, the film was honored for music, camera work and sound design. The actors Felix Kammerer and Albrecht Schuch each received a Lola as best leading and supporting actor. Kammerer sat in the audience with a white shirt and pearl necklace and clapped his hands in front of his face at the news. The bronze Lola went to the thriller “Holy Spider” about a woman murderer in Iran.
Director Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum”) was honored for outstanding services to German film. Hollywood star John Malkovich and other filmmakers paid tribute to his work via video. Many would have thought when looking at the price list: “Oh, that again?” Schlöndorff joked in his acceptance speech for the honorary award. “And I even thought: ‘Don’t I already have it?'” With tears in his eyes, he thanked his former partner, the director Margarethe von Trotta.
Also interesting: Oscars: “Nothing new in the West” has this connection to Duisburg
Best Documentary Film: “Elfriede Jelinek – Letting the language off the leash”
The award for best documentary ging an “Elfriede Jelinek – Letting the language off the leash”. Best Children’s Film became “Mission Ulja Funk”. “The School of Magical Animals 2” received an award for the highest-attendance 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 them major industry awards. The nominations and awards are around with a total of three million euros for new projects endowed. The money comes from the house of Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens). The evening was first shown online by ZDF and later on television.
For the award were around 1600 guests invited to the Theater am Potsdamer Platz. Presenter Jasmin Shakeri initially promoted artistic freedom in rapping and picked up the slogans of the protest movement in Iran with “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (“Woman, Life, Freedom”). She commented on the political events with sharp punch lines and made jokes, for example during the award ceremony: “Anyone who hasn’t learned to pack a fucking sandwich in their clutch after all these years has just had bad luck for three hours.”
Debate on working conditions – grievances in the industry
One was also discussed several times current debate on working conditions. Minister of State for Culture Roth called for an open discussion of abuses in the industry. She asked to name problems – for example Relationships of dependency, abuse of power and assaults. It needs an honest and open discussion. It must be possible to talk about what is going wrong and what can be improved. “We cannot and do not want to tolerate a climate of fear.”
After a “Spiegel” report about alleged harassment and a “climate of fear” during the shooting of the film “Manta Manta – Zwoter Teil” by director Til Schweiger, the production company Constantin announced that it would investigate possible incidents on the set. Schweiger’s lawyer had told the “Spiegel” about the allegations that some of the “facts” were “not known” to her client; another assumes “alleged facts that did not exist”. It was also said there that “rumors circulating” for years were “wrongly presented as actual”. Schweiger did not respond to a request from the German Press Agency. (dpa)
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