German Film Awards unveils longlist

Apart from the Wachoski’s epic Cloud Atlas and Cate Shortland’s drama Lore, the 26 feature films selected include 2012’s most successful German release, Bora Dagtekin’s Türkisch Für Anfänger, as well as the surprise hits Oh Boy by Jan Ole Gerster and Die Kirche Bleibt Im Dorf by Ulrike Grote.

In addition, the 18-person pre-selection committee picked current releases including Margarethe von Trotta’s Hannah Arendt and Matthias Schweighöfer’s new comedy Schlussmacher as well as Oskar Roehler’s Quellen Des Lebens, Franziska Schlotterer’s Ende Der Schonzeit and Dito Tsintsadze’s Invasion which open in German cinemas next month.

Meanwhile, the documentary committee chose 14 films after extensive discussion, including Locarno 2012’s closing film, Markus Imhoof’s More Than Honey, David Sieveking’s award-winning Forget Me Not (Vergiss Mein Nicht), Bulgarian Ilian Metev’s Sofia’s Last Ambulance, and Markus Vetter’s Cinema Jenin – The Story Of A Dream.

The eight-person pre-selection committee for the children’s film category were joined in their deliberations by four (non-voting) children to pick six titles ranging from Hermine Huntgeburth’s Mark Twain adaptation Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn and Mike Marzuk’s second outing inspired by Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books, Fünf Freunde 2.

Moreover, six individual achievements from feature films not appearing in the “longlist” were selected for consideration:

• make-up by Waldemar Pokromski and Sabine Schumann for Der Deutsche Freund;
• sound design by Benjamin Krbetschek and Holger Lehmann for Du Hast Es Versprochen;
• Lead Actress - Christina Große for Für Elise;
• film score by Marcel Barsotti for Jesus Liebt Mich;
• Lead Actor - Alexander Fehling for Wir Wollten Aufs Meer;
• Direction - Toke Constantin Hebbeln for Wir Wollten Aufs Meer.

The members of the German Film Academy will now be invited to visit screenings of the pre-selected films in February and March and vote for their nominations in the various categories. These nominations will be announced on March 22 and, in a third and final phase, the Academy’s membership will cast their votes for the winners of the Lolas to be presented on the evening of April 26 in Berlin’s Friedrichstadt-Palast.

For the third year running, the Berlinale’s European Film Market will be hosting screenings of the pre-selected titles in the section entitled German Cinema – Lola@Berlinale.

These screenings are open to those Film Academy members entitled to vote on the nominations as well as accredited national and international professionals attending the Berlinale.

German Cinema – LOLA@Berlinale is a joint project of the Berlin International Film Festival, the German Film Academy, and the national film promotion agency German Films which finances English subtitling for the films.

The complete “longlist” for the 2013 German Film Awards (Lolas) is as follows:

Fiction feature films

Am Himmel Der Tag - dir: Pola Beck

Cloud Atlas - dirs: Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer

Ende der Schonzeit - dir: Franziska Schlotterer

Fraktus  - dir: Lars Jessen

Gnade - dir: Matthias Glasner

Hannah Arendt - dir: Margarethe von Trotta

Heute Bin Ich Blond - dir: Marc Rothemund

Invasion - dir: Dito Tsintsadze

Die Kirche Bleibt Im Dorf - dir: Ulrike Grote

Das Leben Ist Nichts Für Feiglinge - dir: André Erkau

Little Thirteen - dir: Christian Klandt

Lore - dir: Cate Shortland

Ludwig II. - dir: Peter Sehr, Marie Noëlle

Oh Boy - dir: Jan Ole Gerster

Puppe, Icke & Der Dicke - dir: Felix Stienz

Quellen Des Lebens - dir: Oskar Roehler

Revision - dir: Philip Scheffner

Schlussmacher - dir: Matthias Schweighöfer

Schuld Sind Immer Die Anderen - dir: Lars-Gunnar Lotz

Schutzengel - dir: Til Schweiger

Türkisch Für Anfänger – Der Kinofilm - dir: Bora Dagtekin

Die Vermessung Der Welt - dir: Detlev Buck

Die Vermissten - dir: Jan Speckenbach

Die Wand - dir: Julian Roman Pölsler

Was Bleibt - dir: Hans-Christian Schmid

Das Wochenende - dir: Nina Grosse

Documentaries

Alles wird gut - dir: Niko von Glasow

Berg Fidel – Eine Schule für alle - dir: Hella Wenders

Cinema Jenin – The Story Of A Dream - dir: Marcus Vetter

Heino Jaeger – Look Before You Kuck - dir: Gerd Kroske

Herr Wichmann Aus Der Dritten Reihe - dir: Andreas Dresen

Das Lied Des Lebens - dir: Irene Langemann

Meine Freiheit, Deine Freiheit - dir: Diana Näcke

More Than Honey - dir: Markus Imhoof

Sofias Letzte Ambulanz - dir: Ilian Metev

Sound Of Heimat – Deutschland Singt - dirs: Arne Birkenstock, Jan Tengeler

This Ain’t California - dir: Marten Persiel

Das Venedig Prinzip - dir: Andreas Pichler

Vergiss Mein Nicht - dir: David Sieveking

Die Wohnung - dir: Arnon Goldfinger

Children’s films

Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn - dir: Hermine Huntgeburth

Fünf Freunde 2 - dir: Mike Marzuk

Das Haus Der Krokodile - dirs: Cyrill Boss, Philipp Stennert

Kaddisch Für Einen Freund - dir: Leo Khasin

Ritter Rost - dir: Thomas Bodenstein

Die Vampirschwestern - dir: Wolfgang Groos