European film award goes to Germany

‘Head-On' second German movie to win prize

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17. Dezember 2004 By Elizabeth Goetze

For the second time in a row a German film has won the coveted European Film Award. Gegen die Wand (Head-On), written and directed by Fatih Akin, a second-generation Turk born in Hamburg, won its second big international award last Saturday after receiving the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale film festival.
The award for best European film went last year to “Good Bye, Lenin!“, a comedic drama set during the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The success of home-grown films over the past couple of years has industry insiders speaking of a renaissance in German film.
“Head-On“ tells the story of a marriage of convenience between two Germans with Turkish roots, who struggle against the traditional family values of their parents' home country.
The film was surrounded by controversy when a popular German tabloid exposed during the Berlinale that the leading actress in the film, Sibel Kekilli, had acted in several pornographic movies. In her acceptance speech at the recent Bambi 2004 awards, during which she was given an award for the category “shooting star“ for her role in “Head-On“, Kekilli protested against the extensive media coverage of her past in adult entertainment, reproaching several newspapers for what she called “media rape.“
Director Fatih Akin was also awarded the people's choice award for best European film director at the award ceremony in Barcelona. The European Film Award is Europe's answer to the Oscar Academy Awards. The European Film Academy was founded in 1988 and currently unites 1,600 European film professionals with the common aim of promoting European film. The German film director Wim Wenders presides over the academy.

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