A
heart-warming German blockbuster, "Good Bye, Lenin!,"
dominated the European Film Awards, taking six top prizes at the
16th annual competition.
The bittersweet German c b vomedy -- about a son who conceals
the fall of the Berlin Wall from his ailing mother because he
fears the shock might kill her -- took best film, best actor,
and best screenwriter.
It also won three "People's Choice" awards for best
directing, best actress and best actor in the contest sometimes
called the "European Oscars."
"Dogville," by Danish director Lars von Trier and starring
Nicole Kidman, won best director and best cinematography.
German actor Daniel Bruehl won the European Film Academy statuette
for best actor for "Good Bye, Lenin!" and Britain's
Charlotte Rampling won best actress for her performance in "Swimming
Pool."
"It's just incredible that more than 300 million people
in Europe have picked a German film in the German language, this
ugly German language," said "Good Bye, Lenin's"
German producer Stefan Arndt, referring to a long-held belief
that German films can't succeed commercially abroad.
"Good Bye, Lenin!" topped Germany's box office this
year with 6.5 million tickets sold and has risen high in cinema
charts in Britain and France. Distribution rights have been sold
in 68 countries.
"I got tears in my eyes tonight," said Wolfgang Becker,
whose film also won eight German Film Prize awards in the national
contest in June.
The European Film Awards are presented in Berlin every second
year and in other European cities in the alternate years. Next
year the ceremony will be held in Barcelona.
"European films are so much better than their reputation
in theaters around the world," said Wim Wenders, president
of the European Film Academy and a German director. Some 360 films
from 47 countries were submitted.
(Agencies)
Updated: 2003-12-12 01:00