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The German Film Award (Deutscher Filmpreis), also know as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important film award in Germany, it is also the most highly endowed German cultural award, with cash prizes in its current 20 categories totalling nearly three million euros.

First awarded 1951 in West Germany under its former name Bundesfilmpreis (Federal Film Prize), the winners were decided by a government instated commission until 2004. Since 2005 the award has been organized by the Deutsche Filmakademie (German Film Academy), whose members preselect and vote on the nominees and winners in a process similar to that of the Oscar Academy. The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (currently Monika Grütters) has been responsible for oversight and funding of the award since 1999. The award ceremonies are traditionally held in Berlin.

The decades following the reunification of Germany in 1990 have seen continuous efforts by both the film community and the government to raise the award's prestige and underline its significance as a counterpart to the César Awards in France, or the Academy Awards in the United States.

Predecessor awards
The pre-war nazi era from 1933 to 1939 had already created a German national prize for literature and film called Deutscher Nationalpreis für Buch und Film. The award was instated and funded by the Ministry of Propaganda. Recipients were limited to one film personality per year: After the start of World War II, no further awards were presented.
 * 1933/34: Gustav Ucicky for Refugees
 * 1934/35: Leni Riefenstahl for Triumph of the Will
 * 1935/36: Carl Froelich for The Dreamer
 * 1936/37: Veit Harlan for Der Herrscher
 * 1937/38: Leni Riefenstahl for Olympia
 * 1938/39: Carl Froelich for Heimat

In August 1949, just weeks before post-war Germany was divided into two states, the region that would become East Germany introduced the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik), which recognized both scientific and artistic achievements. The National Prize was awarded in three classes, endowed with 100,000 marks, 50,000 marks and 25,000 marks respectively. First class recipients with multiple wins included film directors Kurt Maetzig (1950, 1954, 1968) Günter Reisch (1961, 1980), and Konrad Wolf (1968, 1971, 1979); actors Eduard von Winterstein (1952, 1959), Günther Simon (1954, 1969), and Erwin Geschonneck (1961, 1968, 1986); cinematographers Karl Plintzner (1952, 1954), and Werner Bergmann (1968, 1971); as well as production designer Alfred Hirschmeier (1963, 1971). The award was last presented in 1989, the year before reunification.

Bundesfilmpreis 1951–1998
West Germany took two more years to follow the East German example and create its own national film award. The Bundesfilmpreis was launched by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and was presented on June 6, 1951, during the 1st Berlin International Film Festival. Apart from 1952, when the award ceremony was held in Bonn, the coupling of the Berlinale with the Bundesfilmpreis continued for the next decades.

In the early years, the award had numerous trophies that were handed out for different categories. Aside from the main categories for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay, most others from the inaugural edition were short lived, such as Film that promotes democratic values, due to constant changes of the awards constitution. As a rule stated that the award would only be bestowed for outstanding achievements, not every category had a winner each year. Over time, the award in the shape of a film tape became the most common trophy, either in gold or silver. The Golden Bowl became the highest honour for Best Picture, however due to not being handed out for more than 17 years, the award was abolished in 1996.

Due to the confusing mechanism as well as changing categories, the award lost its relevance. With only a press conference and no televised broadcast, it did not attract the public's interest in West Germany. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990, constants efforts have been made to underline the award's significance as a national correlation to similar awards honours such as the Academy Awards or the Césars. In 1995 for the first time, winners were announced during a glamorous telecast in Friedrichstadt-Palast, one of the most prestigious venues of former East-Berlin. In the following years, other locations were chosen that were symbolic for the once divided city, such as the Berlin Tempelhof Airport or the Brandenburg Gate.

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Deutscher Filmpreis 1999–2004
Since 1999 the award is commissioned by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, a post that had been created the year before.

From 1999 onwards, the various category winners are awarded a statuette, the Lola. The name was chosen in association with three different eras of German cinema: Marlene Dietrich's career-launching role in The Blue Angel (1933), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's post-war re-interpretation Lola (1981), and Tom Tykwer's internationally acclaimed Run Lola Run (1998).

Mechthild Schmidt, Partner of HouseWorks digital media, New York about her 1999 design: "I wanted to symbolize motion. Film IS movement. I wanted the statue to express confidence without being stern, strength without being static. It was important to me to give the "Deutschen Filmpreis" its own identity, not trying to borrow what other awards already successfully symbolize. While the Oscar is the strong, firm standing fighter and winner, I wanted the Filmprize statue to symbolize the dynamics of movement, the muse, the inspiration necessary to make a work of art, to become a winner. The movement is carried through to the asymmetrical conical base. Stylistically, I was looking for a timeless modern design as well as a historical reference to the first golden era of German film, the Art Deco in the 1920s."

From 1999 to 2002 the show was televised by a private broadcaster ProSieben. Since 2003 it has rotated each year between the two major German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

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Deutscher Filmpreis 2005–present
Before the founding of the German Film Academy (Deutsche Filmakademie) in 2005, a single prize was awarded for cinematography, film editing, production design, and musical score in the category "Outstanding Singular Achievement".

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Special Awards
The last three categories listed in the table above are unendowed special awards:

The Largest Audience Award was introduced in 2014, as a successor to the discontinued "Audience Award: Film of the Year". It is not voted upon, but simply given to the majoritarian German film production that had the largest cinema audience in the year preceding the award.

The full title of the Honorary Award is: "Honorary Award for Outstanding Contributions to German Cinema" (Ehrenpreis für herausragende Verdienste um den Deutschen Film). It is a lifetime achievement award that is usually given to one person per year, but that can be awarded to two people (or institutions) in one year. A select jury that includes the Academy president, as well as other Academy members and non-members, decides on the recipient.

The Bernd Eichinger Award was created in 2012 in memory of the German film producer Bernd Eichinger, who had died the year before. It is awarded to filmmakers or teams that "have made a significant contribution to cinema culture through artistic passion, community spirit, originality and assertiveness". It is not necessarily awarded every year. A jury set up by Katja Eichinger and Nina Eichinger decides on the recipient(s).

Best Foreign Film (1996–2004)
In theory this is still a current category, since it appears in the most recent edition of the rules and regulations. In practice though, this cateogire has been retired since 2004, when Lost in Translation was the last recipient.

Audience Award: Film of the Year (1999–2005 and 2013)
In honor of films with broad appeal and box office success. Replaced by the current Largest Audience Award.

Selection process
Borrowing from the American model, the awards have been made by an academy, the Deutsche Filmakademie, since 2005. The academy replaces a much-criticised jury which was constituted according to the principle of political proportionality, and on which politicians and clergymen also sat. Now the jury consists of the members of the German Film Academy, which makes them a well specialised jury.

The selection process has three main steps:
 * 1) Registration and pre-selection
 * 2) Nomination
 * 3) Election of the award winners

Nominations are decided by a pre-determined jury from each branch. Except for the film categories, usually three nominees are announced. More nominees are allowed in case of a tie. The nominations for the film categories are endowed with 100.000 Euro (Documentary), 125.000 Euro (Best Children's Film) and 250.000 Euro (Best Fiction Film). Winners in each individual categories get 10.000 Euro, whereas the main winner in the Film category gets 500.000 Euro (including the nomination reward). The Best Film category features six nominees with the three most voted winning a bronze, silver and gold award respectively.

Winners

 * Toni Erdmann (2016)
 * 1) Best Film: Toni Erdmann
 * 2) Best Director: Maren Ade
 * 3) Best Actor: Peter Simonischek
 * 4) Best Actress: Sandra Hüller
 * 5) Best Writing: Maren Ade


 * System Crasher (2020)
 * 1) Best Film: System Crasher
 * 2) Best Director: Nora Fingscheidt
 * 3) Best Actor: Albrecht Schuch
 * 4) Best Actress: Helena Zengel
 * 5) Best Writing: Nora Fingscheidt

Nominees
Four awards won
 * Good Bye Lenin (2002): Best Actress (Katrin Saß)
 * Go for Zucker! (2004): Best Actress (Hannelore Elsner)
 * The White Ribbon (2009): Best Actress (Susanne Lothar)

Three awards won
 * Stopped on Track (2011): Best Actress (Steffi Kühnert) and Writing (Andreas Dresen and Cooky Ziesche)