German Film Awards (Lolas) 2005: Hit Jewish Comedy

German Film Awards (Lolas) 2005: Jewish hit comedy Go for Zucker! beats Nazi era drama Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

The 55th German Film Academy’s Lola winners were announced at the Berlin Philharmonie on July 8.

Dani Levy’s comedy Go for Zucker! was a major success at the German box office. The film is the story of an East German secular Jewish couple whose life is turned upside down when Orthodox relatives come for a visit. (Since reunification in 1990, Germany’s Jewish community has more than tripled, from 30,000 to well over 100,000, mainly because of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.)

Marc Rothemund’s real-life-based Nazi era drama Sophie Scholl: The Final Days earned Julia Jentsch the Best Actress award.

Note: There’s a Golden Lola for Best Film and a Silver Lola for the runner(s)-up.

German Film Awards (Lolas) 2005: Winners & nominations

Best Film (Film Prize in Gold)
Agnes and His Brothers / Agnes und seine Brüder – Stefan Arndt
* The Edukators / Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei – Hans Weingartner & Antonin Svoboda
The Forest for the Trees / Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen – Janine Jackowski
* Go for Zucker! / Alles auf Zucker! – Manuela Stehr
The Ninth Day / Der neunte Tag – Jürgen Haase
* Sophie Scholl: The Final Days / Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage – Fred Breinersdorfer, Sven Burgemeister, Christoph Müller & Marc Rothemund

* Best Film Runners-up (Film Prize in Silver)

Best Director
* Dani Levy – Go for Zucker!
Volker Schlöndorff – The Ninth Day
Hans Weingartner – The Edukators

Best Actor
August Diehl – The Ninth Day
Bruno Ganz – Downfall / Der Untergang
* Henry Hübchen – Go for Zucker!
Ulrich Matthes – The Ninth Day

Best Actress
Hannelore Elsner – Go for Zucker!
* Julia Jentsch – Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Jessica Schwarz – Off Beat / Kammerflimmern

Best Supporting Actress
Corinna Harfouch – Downfall
Juliane Köhler – Downfall
* Katja Riemann – Agnes and His Brothers
Ingeborg Westphal – Off Beat

Best Supporting Actor
* Burghart Klaußner – The Edukators
Uwe Ochsenknecht – About the Looking for and the Finding of Love / Vom suchen und finden der Liebe
Udo Samel – Go for Zucker!

Best Screenplay
* Go for Zucker! – Holger Franke & Dani Levy
The Ninth Day – Eberhard Görner & Andreas Pflüger
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days – Fred Breinersdorfer

Best Cinematography
Land of Plenty – Franz Lustig
* Snowland / Schneeland – Hans Günther-Bücking
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days – Martin Langer

Best Film Editing
Go for Zucker! – Elena Bromund
The Ninth Day – Peter R. Adam
* Rhythm Is It! – Dirk Grau & Martin Hoffmann

Best Score
Aus der Tiefe des Raumes – Gerd Baumann, Alex Haas & Stefan Noelle
* Go for Zucker! – Niki Reiser
Hell on Wheels / Höllentour – Till Brönner

Best Production Design
Go for Zucker! – Christian Goldbeck
* The Ninth Day – Ari Hantke
Snowland – Bengt Svedberg

Best Costume Design
Aus der Tiefe des Raumes – Steffi Bruhn
* Go for Zucker! – Lucie Bates
Snowland – Andreas Janczyk

Best Sound
Dreamship Surprise: Period 1 / (T)Raumschiff Surprise – Periode 1 – Mario Hubert, Michael Kranz, Heiko Müller, Roland Platz, Chris Rebay & Roland Winke
The Ninth Day – Hubert Bartholomae & Gunnar Voigt
Snowland – André Bendocchi-Alves, Eric Seifert, Martin Steyer & Roland Winke
* Touch the Sound – Gregor Kuschel, Hubertus Rath, Thomas Riedelsheimer, Christoph von Schönburg & Marc von Stürler

Best Documentary
* Rhythm Is It! – Uwe Dierks, Thomas Grube & Andrea Thilo
Touch the Sound – Trevor Davies, Leslie Hills & Stefan Tolz

Best Children’s or Youth Film
* Laura’s Star / Lauras Stern – Thilo Rothkirch & Maya Gräfin Rothkirch
The Wild Soccer Bunch 2 / Die Wilden Kerle II – Ewa Karlström & Andreas Ulmke-Smeaton

Honorary Award
Reinhard Hauff
“For his lifetime achievement and his decision to give up his profession as director for being a teacher for the young as director of the Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB).”

Audience Award
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

“German Film Awards (Lolas) 2005: Hit Jewish Comedy” notes

Henry Hübchen Go for Zucker! image: Filme Bayerischer Rundfunk Arte.

*last modified in March 2026.