Deutscher Filmpreis

German Film Awards
Awarded for	Best in film
Country	Germany
Presented by	Deutsche Filmakademie
First awarded	1951
Website	deutscher-filmpreis.de

The Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards, also called Lola Awards) is an annual German awards ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film business. It is the most important German movie award and the most highly endowed German cultural award with cash prizes totalling about 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. Since 2017, Pantaflix became the official partner of the German Film Awards. ^[1]

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 which was constituted according to the principle of political proportionality, and on which politicians and clergymen also sat. Now the jury consists of the members of the German Film Academy, which makes them a well specialized jury.

The selection process has three main steps:

1. Registration and pre-selection
2. Nomination
3. Election of the award winners

Since 1999, the various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, the LOLA. The name refers to Marlene Dietrich's role in Der blaue Engel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film Lola and Tom Tykwers 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 Stylistically, I was looking for a timeless modern design as well as a historical reference to the first golden era of German film, the Art Deco in the 1920s."^[2]

Categories

In 2005, the Deutsche Filmpreis was awarded in the following categories.

• Best Feature Film
• Best Documentary Film
• Best Children's Film
• Best Direction
• Best Screenplay
• Best Actress
• Best Actor
• Best Supporting Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Cinematography
• Best Editing
• Best Costume Design
• Best Production Design
• Best Sound Editing
• Best Score
• Special Award for Outstanding Contributions to German Cinema
• Viewers' Choice: Best German Film of the Year

Ceremonies

Changes from 2005

• Until 2004 a single prize was awarded for the technical categories of cinematography, film editing, production design, art direction and musical score under the rubric "Outstanding Singular Achievement"
• There was an award for Best Foreign Film
• A second Viewers Choice Award was made for Actor or Actress of the Year.

See also

• Bayerischer Filmpreis
• Berlin International Film Festival
• Bogey Awards
• Cinema of Germany

References

External links

• Deutscher Filmpreis at the Internet Movie Database
• (in German) Official website
• (in German) deutsche-filmakademie.de Database of recipients 1951 - today
• (in German) Promotion of German Film and Cinema by the German Federal Government
• (in German) film-zeit.de | Nominations and Winners of 2005
• (in German) Lola — prizes in detail List of Lola categories and associated monetary awards