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German cinema looks set for a major boost this year from some of the country’s most commercially successful and critically acclaimed directors tackling such eclectic subject matter as U.S. torture in Guantánamo, the impact of bipolar disorder on family, and a folkloric love story about the Grim Reaper.

The pandemic postponed a number of scheduled 2020 productions, which will likely make 2021 a busy year as production companies make up lost time.

Andreas Dresen, Til Schweiger, Michael Bully Herbig, Hans-Christian Schmid, Sönke Wortmann and the late Joseph Vilsmaier all have high-profile projects in the works or set to hit theaters (when they reopen) this year.

Dresen explores the injustice of America’s war on terror in the tentatively titled “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush.” Dresen, who enjoyed a major hit with the award-winning 2018 biopic “Gundermann,” reteamed with writer Laila Stieler on the fact-based pic about Rabiye Kurnaz (Meltem Kaptan), a Turkish housewife in Bremen,...

The movie awards season is full speed ahead, and today, the European Film Awards unveiled their nominations for the best films of 2019. Leading the pack is director Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy,” the Dreyfus affair drama that picked up a top prize at Venice back in September, tied for four nominations alongside Pedro Almodóvar’s self-reflective “Pain and Glory,” Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor,” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite.” While released in the fall of 2018 in the United States, the latter film’s international release window made it eligible for the European Film Awards this year. “The Favourite” won star Olivia Colman, who plays a gout-stricken Queen Anne, a Best Actress Academy Award earlier this year — the movie’s only win from 10 nominations.

Also picking up heat among the nominees is Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which Neon opens stateside in December. Sciamma...

Only a few days after Roman Polanski was accused of a 1975 rape by a French actress, the director has become one of the leading nominees for the 2019 European Film Awards for his film “An Officer and a Spy.”

The drama about the Dreyfus affair in 19th century France landed four nominations, tying it with Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory,” and Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor” for the most Efa nominations.

Those four films were all nominated in the European Film category, along with “Les Miserables” and “System Crasher.” Polanski was also nominated for European director, along with Almodovar, Bellocchio, Lanthimos and Celine Sciamma for “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”

“An Officer and a Spy” also received nominations for lead actor Jean Dujardin and for its screenplay by Polanski and Robert Harris.

Also Read: 'An Officer and a Spy' Review: Roman Polanski Is No Emile...

"What's the idea?" The German Film Awards were held this weekend, and top prize for Best Picture went to a film titled Gundermann. Never heard of it? This is not uncommon with whatever the "equivalent of the Oscars" film prize is in each country, usually local films that don't play outside of their country, but a few big ones can break through. Gundermann tells the true story of an East German singer & writer named Gerhard Gundermann, played by Alexander Scheer, and his struggles with music, life as a coal miner, and the secret police (Stasi) of the Gdr. It just won Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Lead Actor, Scenery, and Costumes at the Deutscher Filmpreis. This also stars Anna Unterberger, Milan Peschel, and Peter Schneider. If you're curious to see what it's all about, watch below (with translation). Here's ...

Gundermann, a biopic on the extraordinary and contradictory life of East German singer-songwriter Gerhard Gundermann, was the big winner Friday night at the 2019 German Film Awards.

Gundermann won six trophies, including best film, best director for Andreas Dresen and best actor for Alexander Scheer as the titular folk star.

The feature was a sleeper success in Germany, despite Gundermann being nearly unknown to western German audiences. But he was a folk hero in the east, both for his songs and for his lifestyle. Even after becoming a successful recording artist, Gudermann stayed true to his roots, continuing to work as a ...

The recipients were the producers of films nominated for best film, best doc and best children’s film.

More than €2m ($3.2m) in nomination premiums has been awarded to the producers of the films nominated for best film, best documentary and best children’s film at the 2019 German Film Awards, aka the Lolas, in Berlin today (March 20).

The best film nominees are Andreas Dresen’s Gunderman, Markus Goller’s 25 km/h, Caroline Link’s The Boy Needs Fresh Air, Aron Lehmann’s The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx and Christian Petzold’s Transit. Each of...

Andreas Dresen's Gundermann, a biopic about East German singer-songwriter Gerhard Gundermann leads the pack for this year's German Film Awards, picking up 10 nominations, including mentions for best film, best director and best actor for star Alexander Scheer.

The feature, which traces Gudermann's extraordinary and contradictory life, was a sleeper success in Germany. Nearly unknown in western Germany, Gundermann was a folk hero in the east, both for his songs and for his lifestyle. Even after becoming a successful recording artist, Gudermann stayed true to his roots, continuing to work as a digger driver. But like so many ...