German Film Awards 2020: the nominees

Six films were nominated in the top category, best feature film. Among them is a film that just premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival: Burhan Qurbani's modern-day adaptation of Alfred Döblin's classic novel, "Berlin Alexanderplatz," originally set in 1920s Berlin. The film is an impressive three-hour epic on flight, migration and big city life.

"It's the Spoken Word" by director Ilker Catak also addresses central issues of contemporary German society, showing some parallels to "Berlin Alexanderplatz." In the film, a Kurdish man (played by Ogulcan Arman Uslu) wants to gain a foothold in Germany and gets involved in a fictitious marriage with a German.

In the statistics of the German Film Awards, director Christian Petzold is listed as the person who has been nominated most often to date — but he's never received the award. This time around he has another chance with his film "Undine," which oscillates between fairy tale and contemporary drama. "Undine" (with Paula Beer) also celebrated its world premiere at the 70th Berlinale this year.

"Lara" is an intense drama and another work on the list of six nominated films in the top category. Director Jan-Ole Gerster tells the story of a woman who had to break off her career as a pianist and who now dumps her frustration and passion onto her son, who is also a pianist (played by Tom Schilling). Corinna Harfouch offers an impressive performance in the main role.

"Lindenberg! Do your thing" is a trip back through time to the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1960s and 70s, offering a very entertaining view of the early phases of musician Udo Lindenberg's career. Director Hermine Huntgeburth manages — along with her outstanding leading actor Jan Bülow — to create a musical biopic that's also a historical snapshot of an era.

The multiple award-winning "System Crasher" is also one of the films that are now competing for the main prize in the category best feature film on April 24. Director Nora Fingscheidt and her impressive story of a child (played by Helena Zengel), who apparently does not want to adapt to any German educational system, was submitted as the German contribution for the Oscars.

In the second main category, best documentary film, three works made it into the final round of the competition. In addition to "Schlingensief" (about director Christoph Schlingensief, who died in 2010) and "Heimat ist ein Raum aus Zeit" (a cinematic essay on German history), the third film "Born in Evin" (photo) was nominated — a personal story by Maryam Zaree, born in the notorious Iran prison.

The third main category at the 70th German Film Awards, best children's film, features only two works in the final round. "Fritzi: A Revolutionary Tale" is an animated film for children about the fall of the Berlin Wall. "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" (starring Riva Krymalowski, photo) is the literary adaptation of the popular novel by Judith Kerr, directed by Caroline Link.

The award in the category greatest box office success is already known. Here, "The Perfect Secret" by director Bora Dagtekin won the competition. The comedy is a remake of an Italian box-office hit and features a number of prominent German actors (including Karoline Herfurth and Elyas M'Barek). Five million movie-goers have seen "The Perfect Secret" so far.

It's also clear that Edgar Reitz will grab an honorary prize. The director, who created a feature film series called "Heimat" in 1984, brought worldwide recognition to German cinema. Reitz is being honored for his life's work. He was one of the founding fathers of the New German Cinema in the 1960s and since then he has made many award-winning feature films and documentaries.