Matthias Glasner’s ‘Dying’ Wins German Film Awards

Matthias Glasner’s epic dysfunctional family drama Dying has won the top prize for best film at the 2024 German Film Awards, the Lolas.

Dying was one of the critical favorites at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where Glasner won the Silver Bear for best screenplay. The film stars Lars Eidinger as a classical conductor with an extremely dysfunctional family.

In addition to the top prize, Corinna Harfoch won the best actress Lola for her role in Dying, where she plays Eidinger’s sharp-tonged and cold-hearted mother. Her Dying co-star Hans-Uwe Bauer took best supporting actor, and the film also took the Lola for best film music for composer Lorenz Dangel.

Ayşe Polat took best director and best screenplay for In the Blind Spot, her twisty documentary-style conspiracy thriller set in modern-day Turkey. The film, which premiered in Berlin’s Encounters section last year, won the top prize at the Oldenburg Film Festival, the German Independence Award. It follows a German film team shooting a documentary in a remote Kurdish village who begin to witness mysterious happenings and become entwined in a sinister conspiracy. The film also made it to the best film podium, winning the best film Lola in bronze.

Simon Morzé took the best actor Lola for the lead role in Adrian Goiginger’s WW2 film The Fox, in which he portrays a young German soldier who saves a wounded fox cub and takes it with him into occupied France. The film, which is based on a true story, also took the runner-up best film Lola in silver.

The best supporting actress nod went to Adele Neuhauser for her turn in 15 Years, Chris Kraus’ sequel to his 2006 drama Four Minutes, which co-stars Hannah Herzsprung and The Zone of Interest lead Christian Friedl.

Timm Kröger’s experimental sci-fi feature The Universal Theory, a black-and-white drama about the multiverse, was a big winner in the technical categories, winning Lolas for best cinematography (for Roland Stuprich), best visual effects (Karlem Saleh, Adrian Meyer) and best costume design (Cosima Vellenzer, Anika Klatt). The film premiered in Venice last year and won the Venice Independent Critics’ Prize.

The recreation of the 1980s pop music world in Milli Vanilli’s biopic Girl You Know It’s True also won over the German academy, with Ingken Benesch winning the Lola for best costume design and Alisza Pfeifer and Christina Baier taking the prize for best hair and makeup.

The best documentary prize went to Steffi Niederzoll’s Seven Winters in Tehran, a harrowing first-hand account of a young Iranian woman convicted of killing her would-be rapist.

In addition to being Germany‘s top cinema prize, the German Film Awards are also the most lucrative, coming with some $3.25 million (€3 million) in prize money for the winners and nominees, which they can use to finance future projects.

A highlight of the evening came when German cinema legend Hanna Schygulla turned her acceptance speech for her honorary Lola for lifetime achievement into a freewheeling combination of personal recollections, political speech and stand-up routine. “People call me an icon,” said the Lilli Marleen and The Marriage of Maria Braun actress. “Well, why not?”

See the full list of winners below.

Best Film

In The Blind Spot dir. Ayşe Polat WINNER LOLA IN BRONZE

Dying dir. Matthias Glasner WINNER LOLA IN GOLD

Elaha dir. Milena Aboyan

The Fox dir. Adrian Goiginger WINNER LOLA IN SILVER

The Universal Theory dir. Timm Kröger

A Whole Life dir. Hans Steinbichler

Best Director

Matthias Glasner for Dying

Timm Kröger for The Universal Theory

Ayşe Polat for In the Blind Spot WINNER

Best Actress

Corinna Harfoch for Dying WINNER

Hannah Herzsprung for 15 Years

Bayan Layla for Elaha

Best Actor

Lars Eidinger for Dying

Marc Hosemann for Sophia, Death and Me

Simon Morzé for The Fox WINNER

Best Supporting Actress

Adele Neuhauser for 15 Years WINNER

Barbara Philipp for Sprich mit mir

Marie-Lou Sellem for Bones and Names

Best Supporting Actor

Hans-Uwe Bauer for Dying WINNER

Christian Friedel for 15 Years

Robert Gwisdek for Dying

Best Screenplay

Matthias Glasner for Dying

Adrian Goiginger for The Fox

Ayşe Polat for In The Blind Spot WINNER

Best Children’s Film

Checker Tobi und die Reise zu den fliegenden Flüssen dir. Johannes Honsell

Winners dir. Soleen Yusef WINNER

Best Documentary Film

Anselm dir. Wim Wenders

Seven Winters in Tehran dir. Steffi Niederzoll WINNER

Vergiss Meyn Nicht dir. Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl, Jens Mühlhoff

Best Cinematographer

Yoshi Helmrath, Paul Spritz for The Fox

Lotta Kilian for Luise

Roland Stuprich for The Universal Theory WINNER

Best VFX

Manfred Büttner for The Fox

Marco Del Bianco for Stella, A Life

Karlem Saleh, Adrian Meyer for The Universal Theory WINNER

Juri Stanossek, Apollonia Hartmann, Jan Burda for Girl You Know It’s True

Best Hair and Makeup

Kerstin Gaecklein, Lisa Becker for Stella, A Life

Helene Lang for A Whole Life

Alisza Pfeifer, Christina Baier for Girl You Know It’s True WINNER

Best Production Design

Heike Lange, Alexandra Pilhatsch for Girl You Know It’s True

Albrecht Konrad, Ellen Somnitz, Ruth Barbara Wilbert for Stella, A Life

Jurek Kuttner, Marcel Beranek, Hanna Bowe, Bernadette Weinzierl for A Whole Life

Cosima Vellenzer, Anika Klatt for The Theory of Everything WINNER

Best Costume Design

Ingken Benesch for Girl You Know It’s True WINNER

Tonja Hausner for The Glory of Life

Thomas Olah for Stella, A Life

Best Editing

David J. Achilles for Falling Into Place

Heike Gnida for Dying

Nicole Kortlüke for Seven Winters in Tehran WINNER

Best Film Music

Lorenz Dangel for Dying WINNER

John Gürtler, Jan Miserre featuring Saba Alizadeh for Empty Nets

Diego Ramos Rodriguez for The Universal Theory

Best Sound Design

Bahma Ardalan, Ansgar Frerich, Florian Beck for Empty Nets

Michael Schlömer, Corinna Fleig, Tobias Fleig for The Dive WINNER

Max Vornehm, Christof Ebhardt, Christian Bischoff for A Whole Life

Honorary Lola for Hanna Schygulla