‘September 5' Sweeps German Film Awards
Tim Fehlbaum's real-life thriller, based on the terrorist attacks on the 1972 Munich Olympics, picked up nine Lolas, including for best director, best editing, best cinematography, best sound design, best screenplay, best makeup and best production design.
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Leonie Benesch won best supporting actress for her performance as a translator for the U.S. television network broadcasting the attacks live to the world. September 5 premiered at the Venice film festival last year before becoming an awards contender and landing a best original screenplay Oscar nomination for Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder and Alex David.
Accepting his best director prize, Fehlbaum praised his German team, and, with a side swipe at Donald Trump and his promised tariffs on 'foreign films,' noted that 'they can raise the tariffs as high as the want, there is not reason to make films anywhere else [than here].'
Wolfram Weimer, the new German culture minister, who presented the best film honor, also criticized Trump, calling the tariff proposal 'absurd. The next thing he'll introduce tariffs on jokes, so that people will stop making fun of him.'
Liv Lisa Fries won best actress for playing Hilde Coppi, a member of the left-wing anti-Nazi resistance group the Red Orchestra, in Andreas Dresen's historic drama From Hilde, With Love. The film also took the bronze Lola for best film.
In a moving speech, Fries referenced the threat of resurgent far-right extremism in Germany.
'It's getting serious,' she said. 'This can't happen again.'
Politics was a recurring theme at the awards ceremony in Berlin Friday night, with several winners referencing the dangers represented by the far-right AfD, which is surging in the polls, despite Germany's domestic intelligence service classifying the party as extremist.
'Call them out and show yourselves,' German musician Igor Levit told the crowd in his tribute to Margot Friedländer, a Holocaust survivor who became the conscience of a nation, speaking about her experience in her many television and public appearances, and who died on Friday at the age of 103.
Best actor went to Missagh Zareh for his portrayal of an Iranian patriarch in Mohammad Rasoulof's Oscar-nominated The Seed of the Sacred Fig. The film, which depicts an Iranian family torn apart by conflicting loyalties to an increasingly oppressive Tehran regime, was set up as a German-French co-production and shot in secret in Iran. The film also won the runner-up silver Lola for best film.
'Making this film was a miracle, but the miracle was the Iranian women, who made this film possible,' said Rasoulof, accepting his award. The director, who fled Iran last year, now lives in Berlin. He ended his speech with a call to 'stand by us, stand by the people of Iran.'
Christian Friedel, star of Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest and part of the ensemble cast of the third season of The White Lotus, hosted the awards, showing off his talents as a song-and-dance man with his band Woods of Birnam.
A complete list of the winners of the 2025 German Film Awards follows.
– Mohammad Rasoulof, Mani Tilgner, Rozita Hendijanian (WINNER Best Film in Silver) – Claudia Steffen, Christoph Friedel, Regina Ziegler (WINNER Best Film in Bronze)Islands – Maximilian Leo, Jonas KatzensteinKöln 75 – Sol Bondy, Fred Burle – Philipp Trauer, Thomas Wöbke, Tim Fehlbaum (WINNER Best Film in Gold)Vena – Dietmar Güntsche, Martin Rohé
Hollywoodgate – Talal Derki, Shane Boris, Odessa Rae, Ibrahim Nash'at – Birgit Schulz, Doris Metz (WINNER)Riefenstahl – Sandra Maischberger, Andres Veiel
– Veit Helmer (WINNER)Woodwalkers – Corinna Mehner, Carolin Dassel
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad RasoulofFrom Hilde, With Love – Andreas Dresen – Tim Fehlbaum (WINNER)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad RasoulofFrom Hilde, With Love – Laila Stieler – Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum (WINNER)
Liv Lisa Fries – (WINNER)Mala Emde – Köln 75Emma Nova – Vena
Sam Riley – CrankoMisagh Zare – (WINNER)Sam Riley – Islands
Anne Ratte-Polle – Bad DirectorNiousha Akhshi – The Seed of the Sacred FigLeonie Benesch – (WINNER)
Alexander Scheer – From Hilde, With LoveAlexander Scheer – Köln 75Godehard Giese – (WINNER)
Cranko – Philipp Sichler – Markus Förderer (WINNER)Vena – Lisa Jilg
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Andrew BirdKöln 75 – Anja Siemens – Hansjörg Weißbrich (WINNER)
The Light– Bernhard Joest-Däberitz, Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert, Markus Stemler, Alexander BuckIslands – Stefan Soltau, Thomas Kalbér, Tobias Fleig – Lars Ginzel, Frank Kruse, Marc Parisotto, Marco Hanelt (WINNER)
– Dascha Dauenhauer (WINNER)Kein Tier. So Wild. – Dascha DauenhauerSeptember 5 – Lorenz Dangel
Cranko – Astrid PoeschkeHagen – Matthias Müsse, Nancy Vogel – Julian R. Wagner, Melanie Raab (WINNER)
– Juliane Maier, Christian Röhrs (WINNER)Hagen – Pierre-Yves GayraudFrom Hilde, With Love – Birgitt Kilian
Hagen – Jeanette Latzelsberger, Gregor EcksteinFrom Hilde, With Love – Grit Kosse, Uta Spikermann, Monika Münnich – Sabine Schumann (WINNER)
The Light– Robert Pinnow – Jan Stoltz, Franzisca Puppe (WINNER)Woodwalkers – Max Riess, Sven Martin, Bernie Kimbacher
– Sven Unterwaldt (Regie), Alexandra Kordes, Meike Kordes (Produktion) (WINNER)
An Dorthe Braker
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