German film prize goes to “The teacher’s room”

Ilker Çatak’s drama “The Teacher’s Room” about a school conflict has been awarded the Golden Lola at the German Film Awards. This was announced by the Film Academy in Berlin on Friday evening. Actress Leonie Benesch plays a teacher who wants to solve a series of thefts at her school and decides to secretly run a camera in the teacher’s lounge.

The film, which is currently in theaters, won a total of five awards. For example, Benesch was honored as best leading actress, Çatak for best director. In the past, the filmmaker shot “The spoken word counts” about a marriage of convenience.

The fan-favorite anti-war drama “Nothing New in the West” took home the most awards with nine awards, but missed out on the grand prize. Instead, he won the Lola in silver. Director Edward Berger’s film about the First World War is based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970).

The film already won four Oscars in the US in March. In Berlin he was honored on Friday evening for music, camera work and sound design. The two actors Felix Kammerer and Albrecht Schuch each received a Lola for best leading actor and best supporting actor. The bronze Lola went to the thriller “Holy Spider” about a female killer in Iran.

Director Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum”) was honored with the Academy’s Honorary Award for Outstanding Merit to German Film. Hollywood star John Malkovich and other filmmakers paid tribute to his work through video.

The prize for the documentary went to “Elfriede Jelinek – Letting the language off the leash”. The best children’s film was “Mission Ulja Funk”. “The School of Magical Animals 2” received an award for the most popular 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 the most important awards in the industry. A total of about three million euros for new projects has been awarded to the nominations and prizes. The money comes from the house of Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens). About 1600 guests were invited to the award ceremony in the theater on Potsdamer Platz. The evening was moderated by Jasmin Shakeri.

In the beginning, Roth called for an open discussion about industry abuses. “We’re also here to clearly identify issues: dependencies, abuse of power, physical violence, sexual assault on set.” Anyone who openly criticizes grievances, “demanding they be deported and banned as polluters” – can count on her support.

An honest and open discussion is needed. It must be possible to talk about what goes wrong and what could be improved, about which structures need to be changed so that a film set is a place where films are made in a good, creative and constructive working atmosphere. “We cannot and will not tolerate a climate of fear,” Roth said. What stands in the way, they can change together. (sda/dpa)