There were two awards for Austria on Friday at the German Film Awards ceremony in Berlin: Simon Morzé was recognized as best male actor for his performance in the historical drama “The Fox”. Adele Neuhauser received the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the film “15 Years”. The main prize for best film (“Golden Lola”) went to the film “Die” by German director Matthias Glasner.
These were the big winners of the evening
The three-hour winning film won a total of four awards: In addition to the best film music (Lorenz Dangel), Corinna Harfouch was honored as the best leading actress, and Hans-Uwe Bauer was honored for the best male supporting role. The 69-year-old Harfouch, visibly touched, thanked her fellow actor Lars Eidinger, director Glasner and her family on stage.
The most beautiful looks from the red carpet
“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. This 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.
The 69-year-old accepted the award for best female lead. Visibly touched, Harfouch thanked her fellow actor Lars Eidinger, “Die” director Matthias Glasner and her family on stage.
“Die” entered the race as the favorite for the film award with nine nominations. In the three-hour film about a broken family, Harfouch plays mother and wife Lissy Lunies. In 2003, Harfouch won the German Film Prize for her supporting role as Rabia von Katzenstein in the children’s film “Bibi Blocksberg”.
The winners of the evening
“The Fox” won
In “The Fox,” Morzé plays an Austrian soldier named Franz who raises a young fox during World War II. “15 Years” is a German-Austrian-Luxembourgish drama directed by Chris Kraus.
The ORF was pleased in a broadcast late in the evening that three cinema films co-financed by the ORF as part of the film/television agreement, “The Fox”, “15 Years” and “The Theory of Everything”, received prizes.
The Turkish-German director Ayşe Polat received the award for best screenplay for her political thriller “Im dead Winkel”. When presenting the award, Polat dedicated it 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.
Prizes in 17 categories
The coveted Lolas are awarded in a total of 17 categories at the film award. The big favorite was the drama “Die” by director Matthias Glasner, which was nominated in nine categories. “The Theory of Everything” by Timm Kröger received six nominations, followed by the film “The Fox” by Adrian Goiginger with five nominations.
The Lola, which has been awarded annually since 1951, is considered the most important German award for filmmakers. In addition to feature films, documentaries and children’s films are also honored. The Lola is endowed with prize money totaling almost three million euros; the decision on the awarding of the prize is made by the members of the German Film Academy.
The German 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 on Friday evening in Berlin.
Emotional appeal
Friedländer was accompanied on stage by director Wim Wenders and human rights activist Düzen Tekkal. “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.
“I ask you to support me so that history does not repeat itself.” It is now in everyone’s hands to shape life. “We can no longer change what happened, but it must never, ever happen again. I ask you: be human.”
There was a standing ovation and thunderous applause from the audience for her speech. The 102-year-old Friedländer is one of the few living witnesses to the persecution and murder of Jews during the Nazi era.