Alternative Film Guide

The big winner of the 2008 Lola Awards was writer-director Fatih Akin’s cross-cultural drama Auf der anderen Seite / The Edge of Heaven, the story of a German woman (Patrycia Ziolkowska) who travels to Turkey to help free a young woman (Nurgül Yesilçay) being held as a political prisoner. The Edge of Heaven won a total of 4 Lolas: best film, best director, best screenplay, and best editing (Andrew Bird). (Last year, the film received the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival.) The Edge of Heaven is Akin’s second Lola winner; his 2004 cross-cultural drama Head-On also took the best film prize. Even so, the director has frequently complained about the way the German Film Academy selects the Lola nominees. This year, he joked about his grievances while accepting one of his awards, remarking to actor-director Til Schweiger that the two of them would end up joining the Academy again. (Schweiger recently resigned from the Academy after his box-office hit Keinohrhasen / Rabbit Without Ears failed to land a single nomination.)

Best Film / Bester Spielfilm
AM ENDE KOMMEN TOURISTEN
* AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE / THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
KIRSCHBLÜTEN / CHERRY BLOSSOMS
SHOPPEN
DIE WELLE / THE WAVE
YELLA

Runner-Up for Best Film (Silver)
CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Second Runner-Up for Best Film (Bronze)
THE WAVE

Best Documentary / Bester Dokumentarfilm
AM LIMIT
* PRINZESSINNENBAD / POOL OF PRINCESSES

Best Children’s/Youth Film / Bester Kinder- und Jugendfilm
* LEROY
MAX MINSKY UND ICH

© Deutsche Filmakademie

Best Direction / Beste Regie
* Fatih Akin THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
Doris Dörrie CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Christian Petzold YELLA

© Deutsche Filmakademie

Best Actress / Beste darstellerische Leistung – weibliche Hauptrolle
* Nina Hoss YELLA
Carice van Houten BLACK BOOK
Valerie Koch DIE ANRUFERIN
Victoria Trauttmansdorff GEGENÜBER

Best Actor / Beste darstellerische Leistung – männliche Hauptrolle
Matthias Brandt GEGENÜBER
Ulrich Noethen EIN FLIEHENDES PFERD
* Elmar Wepper CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Best Supporting Actress / Beste darstellerische Leistung – weibliche Nebenrolle
Hannelore Elsner CHERRY BLOSSOMS
* Christine Schorn FREI NACH PLAN / ACCORDING TO PLAN
Hanna Schygulla THE EDGE OF HEAVEN

Best Supporting Actor / Beste darstellerische Leistung – männliche Nebenrolle
Justus von Dohnányi BIS ZUM ELLENBOGEN
Herbert Knaup DU BIST NICHT ALLEIN
* Frederick Lau THE WAVE

Best Screenplay / Bestes Drehbuch
* Fatih Akin THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
Doris Dörrie CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Ralf Westhoff SHOPPEN

Best Cinematography / Beste Kamera/Bildgestaltung
Hans Fromm YELLA
Daniel Gottschalk TRADE
* Benedict Neuenfels LIEBESLEBEN / LOVE LIFE

Best Editing / Bester Schnitt
* Andrew Bird THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
Ueli Christen THE WAVE
Hansjörg Weißbrich TRADE

Best Music / Beste Filmmusik
* Ali N. Askin LEROY
Annette Focks EIN FLIEHENDES PFERD
Ralf Wengenmayr LISSI UND DER WILDE KAISER

Best Production Design / Bestes Szenenbild
Christian M. Goldbeck LOVE LIFE
Eduard Krajewski DAS WILDE LEBEN
* Erwin Prib ABSURDISTAN

Best Costume Design / Bestes Kostümbild
* Sabine Greunig CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Petra Kray DAS WILDE LEBEN
Yan Tax BLACK BOOK

Best Sound / Beste Tongestaltung
* Dirk W. Jacob, Dominik Schleier, Martin Steyer, Pawel Wdowczak TRADE
Joe Knauer, Max Rammler, Erik Mischijew, Matz Müller AM LIMIT
Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert, Fabian Schmidt, Carsten Richter, Hanse Warns DIE DREI RÄUBER

Honorary Lola for Lifetime Achievement
Alexander Kluge