The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important film award in Germany, it is also the most highly endowed German cultural award, with cash prizes in its current 20 categories totalling nearly three million euros. From 1951 to 2004 it was awarded by a commission, but since 2005 the award has been organized by the German Film Academy ( Deutsche Filmakademie). The Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs has been responsible for the administration of the prize since 1999. The awards ceremony is traditionally held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

History

The award was created in 1951 by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and was first given out during the Berlin Film Festival. A practice that was kept for the upcoming decades. Since 1999 it is commissioned by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F081356-0017, Deutscher Filmpreis

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F081356-0017, Deutscher Filmpreis

In the first years the awards had numerous trophies that were handed out for different categories. Aside from the main categories for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay most others from the inaugural edition have been short lived such as ''Film that promote democratic values'' due to the constant change of the awards constitution in the early years. As a rule stated that awards would only be awarded for outstanding achievements, not every category had a winner each year. Over time, the award in the shape of a film tape became the most common trophy, either in gold or silver. The Golden Bowl became the highest honour for Best Picture, however due to not being handed out for more than 17 years, the award was abolished in 1996. Due to the confusing mechanism as well as changing categories, the award lost its relevance. With only a press conference and no televised broadcast, it did not attract the public's interest in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990, constants efforts have been made to underline the award's significance as a national correlation to similar awards honours such as the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

or the Césars. In 1995 for the first time, winners were announced during a glamorous telecast in Friedrichstadt-Palast, one of the most prestigious venues of former

East-Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

. In the following years, other locations were chosen that were symbolic for the once divided city such as the

Berlin Tempelhof Airport Berlin Tempelhof Airport (german: Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof) was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, lea ...

or the

Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William II after Prussian invasion ...

. Since 1999, the various category winners are awarded a statuette, the LOLA. The name refers to

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

's role in '' Der blaue Engel'',

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's mai ...

's film '' Lola'' and

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films '' Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven'' (2002), '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' ...

's very successful movie ''Lola rennt''. Mechthild Schmidt, Partner of HouseWorks digital media, New York about her 1999 design: "I wanted to symbolize motion. Film IS movement. I wanted the statue to express confidence without being stern, strength without being static. It was important to me to give the "Deutschen Filmpreis" its own identity, not trying to borrow what other awards already successfully symbolize. While the Oscar is the strong, firm standing fighter and winner, I wanted the Filmprize statue to symbolize the dynamics of movement, the muse, the inspiration necessary to make a work of art, to become a winner. The movement is carried through to the asymmetrical conical base. Stylistically, I was looking for a timeless modern design as well as a historical reference to the first golden era of German film, the Art Deco in the 1920s." From 1999 to 2002 the show was televised by a private broadcaster ProSieben. Since 2003 it has rotated each year between the two major German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. Before the founding of the German Film Academy (Deutsche Filmakademie) in 2005 a single prize was awarded for the technical categories of

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

, film editing, production design,

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

and musical score in the category "Outstanding Singular Achievement".

Selection process

Borrowing from the American model, the awards have been made by an academy, the Deutsche Filmakademie, since 2005. The academy replaces a much-criticised

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England d ...

which was constituted according to the principle of political proportionality, and on which politicians and

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

men also sat. Now the jury consists of the members of the German Film Academy, which makes them a well specialised jury. The selection process has three main steps: # Registration and pre-selection # Nomination # Election of the award winners Nominations are decided by a pre-determined jury from each branch. Except for the film categories, usually three nominees are announced. More nominees are allowed in case of a tie. The nominations for the film categories are endowed with 100.000 Euro (Documentary), 125.000 Euro (Best Children's Film) and 250.000 Euro (Feature Film). Winners in each individual categories get 10.000 Euro, whereas the main winner in the Film category gets 500.000 Euro (including the nomination reward). The Best Film category features six nominees with the three most voted winning a bronze, silver and gold award respectively.

Ceremonies

Trivia

Films that received six or more German Film Awards

"Big Five" winners and nominees

Winners

*''

Toni Erdmann Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, No ...

'' (2016) #Best Film: ''Toni Erdmann'' #Best Director: Maren Ade #Best Actor:

Peter Simonischek Peter Simonischek (born 6 August 1946) is an Austrian actor. He is a celebrated stage performer and has been a regular ensemble member of the Burgtheater since 1999. He often appears at the Salzburg Festival and has played the title role in the p ...

#Best Actress: Sandra Hüller #Best Writing: Maren Ade *'' System Crasher'' (2020) #Best Film: ''System Crasher'' #Best Director: Nora Fingscheidt #Best Actor:

Albrecht Schuch Albrecht Abraham Schuch (born 21 August 1985) is a German actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three German Film Awards, a Bavarian Film Award, and a German Television Award. He has been nominated for a British Academy Fi ...

#Best Actress:

Helena Zengel Helena Zengel (; born June 10, 2008) is a German actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''System Crasher'' (2019) and '' News of the World'' (2020). Early life Zengel was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, and began her acti ...

#Best Writing: Nora Fingscheidt

Nominees

Four awards won *'' Good Bye Lenin'' (2002): Best Actress ( Katrin Saß) *''

Go for Zucker! ''Alles auf Zucker!'' (german: Go for Zucker!) is a German comedy film, released internationally in 2004. It can be seen as part of the " Ossi-Wessi" confrontation within Germany. Directed by Dani Levy, the cast includes Henry Hübchen, Hanne ...

'' (2004): Best Actress (

Hannelore Elsner Hannelore Elsner (; born Hannelore Elstner; 26 July 1942 – 21 April 2019) was a German actress with a long career in television and film. She first performed on stage in Munich, and later starred in popular films and television series such as ...

) *'' The White Ribbon'' (2009): Best Actress ( Susanne Lothar) Three awards won *''

Stopped on Track ''Stopped on Track'' (german: Halt auf Freier Strecke) is a 2011 German drama film directed by Andreas Dresen. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Prize Un Certain Regard, the top awar ...

'' (2011): Best Actress ( Steffi Kühnert) and Writing ( Andreas Dresen and Cooky Ziesche)

Actors with two or more competitive awards

Notes

References

External links

* *
deutsche-filmakademie.de
Database of recipients 1951 – today *
Promotion of German Film and Cinema by the German Federal Government
*

List of Lola categories and associated monetary awards {{Authority control Awards established in 1951