German Film Awards (Lolas) 2010: Michael Haneke’s stark political-psychological drama The White Ribbon leads the pack
The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke’s depiction of rural Germany on the eve of World War I – and how the cute little children of that era grew into the Nazis and their supporters of the 1930s and 1940s – received 13 nominations for the Lolas, the German version of the Academy Awards.
In the Lolas’ top categories, the 2010 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee (which lost to the Argentinean drama The Secret in Their Eyes) is up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (also Haneke), Best Actor (Burghart Klaussner) and Best Actress (Susanne Lothar).
Additionally, cinematographer Christian Berger is up for a Lola as well. Several weeks ago, Berger became the first cinematographer to win an American Society of Cinematographers Award for a film not in the English language. At the Oscars, he lost out to Mauro Fiore for the less arty but more glitzy (and far, far more popular) Avatar.
Palme d’Or and European Film Award winner The White Ribbon was the favorite at the Oscars and is the favorite at the Lolas. Don’t expect another upset.
Other Best Picture Lola nominees are Feo Aladag’s When We Leave, which earned a total of six Lola nominations, including Best Actress for Sibel Kekilli, the star of Fatih Akin’s 2004 Lola winner Head-On.
In When We Leave, Kekilli plays a willful Turkish woman who flees Istanbul for Germany, where she finds herself at odds with her traditional Muslim family. (The latter plot point parallels Kekilli’s real-life experience after German tabloids revealed the actress had appeared in adult films prior to Head-On).
Also, Hans-Christian Schmid’s Yugoslav war crimes drama Storm, starring Anamaria Marinca (of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) as a witness and Kerry Fox as a Hague’s Tribunal prosecutor, and Maren Ade’s drama Everyone Else, starring Lars Eidinger and Best Actress nominee Birgit Minichmayr as a married couple who, while on vacation, become a little too attached to another couple.
Plus Fatih Akin’s ensemble comedy Soul Food, featuring, among others, Moritz Bleibtreu and Birol Ünel, and the winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
And finally, Sherry Hormann’s Desert Flower, a biopic of Somalian-born supermodel turned anti-female-circumcision activist Waris Dirie, played by Liya Kebede. Desert Flower won the Audience Award for Best European Film at the 2009 San Sebastian Film Festival.
The 2010 German Academy Award winners will be announced on April 23 in Berlin.
Best Film
Desert Flower – Dir.: Sherry Hormann
Everyone Else – Dir.: Maren Ade
Soul Kitchen – Dir.: Fatih Akin
Storm – Dir.: Hans-Christian Schmid (Film Award in Silver recipient)
When We Leave – Dir.: Feo Aladag (Film Award in Bronze recipient)
* The White Ribbon – Dir.: Michael HanekeBest Director
Maren Ade – Everyone Else
Feo Aladag – When We Leave
* Michael Haneke – The White Ribbon
Hans-Christian Schmid – StormBest Actress
Corinna Harfouch – This Is Love
* Sibel Kekilli – When We Leave
Susanne Lothar – The White Ribbon
Birgit Minichmayr – Everyone ElseBest Actor
Fabian Hinrichs – Schwerkraft
Henry Hübchen – Whiskey With Vodka
* Burghart Klaußner – The White Ribbon
Devid Striesow – So Glucklich war ich noch nieBest Supporting Actress
* Maria-Victoria Dragus – The White Ribbon
Hannah Herzsprung – Vision
Jordis Triebel – Pope Joan
Nadja Uhl – Men in the CityBest Supporting Actor
Rainer Bock – The White Ribbon
Ulrich Noethen – Henry of Navarre
Settar Tanriogen – When We Leave
* Justus von Dohnanyi – Men in the CityBest Screenplay
Storm – Bernd Lange & Hans-Christian Schmid
When We Leave – Feo Aladag
Whiskey With Vodka – Wolfgang Kohlhasse
* The White Ribbon – Michael HanekeBest Cinematography
Hilde – Hagen Bogdanski
Lippel’s Dream – Jana Marsik
The Robber – Reinhold Vorschneider
* The White Ribbon – Christian BergerBest Film Editing
The Door – Andreas Radtke
Soul Kitchen – Andrew Bird
* Storm – Hansjorg Weissbrich
When we Leave – Andrea Mertens
The White Ribbon – Monika WilliBest Film Music
The Door – Fabian Romer
Salami Aleikum – Ali N. Askin
* Storm – The Notwist
Vicky the Viking – Ralf WengenmayrBest Production Design
Hilde – Thomas Freudenthal
Pope Joan – Bernd Lepel
Vicky the Viking – Matthias Musse
* The White Ribbon – Christoph KanterBest Costume Design
Hilde – Lucie Bates
Pope Joan – Esther Walz
Vision – Ursula Welter
* The White Ribbon – Moidele BickelBest Sound Recording
The Door – Jorg Krieger, Richard Borowski & Kai Storck
Pope Joan – Roland Winke, Stefan Busch & Michael Kranz
Vicky the Viking – Michael Kranz & Ben Rosenkind
* The White Ribbon – Guillaume Sciama & Jean-Pierre LaforceBest Make-Up
Henry of Navarre – Gerhard Zeiss
Hilde – Wolfgang Boge & Heiko Schmidt
Vicky the Viking – Georg Korpas
* The White Ribbon – Waldemar Pokromski & Anette KeiserBest Documentary
* The Heart of Jenin / Das Herz von Jenin – Dir.: Marcus Vetter & Leon Geller
The Woman with the 5 Elephants – Dir.: Vadim JendreykoBest Children’s Film
Lippel’s Dream / Lippels Traum – Dir.: Lars Buchel
* The Suburban Crocodiles / Vorstadtkrokodile – Dir.: Christian DitterBest Unproduced Screenplay
“Mein Bruder, Hitlerjunge Quex” (“My Brother, Hitler Youth Quex”) – Karsten LaskeHonorary Award
Bernd Eichinger
notes
*last modified in March 2026.