Jewish film wins top German prize

BERLIN - A light-hearted comedy lampooning Jewish life in Germany and shattering post-war taboos in the process stole the show at the German Film Prize, winning six awards in the world's most lucrative film contest.

"Alles auf Zucker" (Official site: German) ("Go for Zucker: An Unorthodox Comedy"), the first Jewish comedy made in Germany since World War II, won "Lola" awards for best film, best director and best actor, as well as top honors for screenwriting, costume and music.

The film, which cost just 1.5 million euros (USD 1.8 million) but earned three times that at the box office, was the runaway winner at the awards, presented by the 600-member German Film Academy. It beat blockbuster "Der Untergang" (Downfall), about Hitler's final days, which went home empty-handed.

"I just beat Hitler!" joked Henry Huebchen upon receiving the best actor award ahead of Bruno Ganz, who was nominated for his stirring and widely lauded performance as the Nazi dictator.

"It's just great - a little Communist guy of Jewish origin beats Hitler," Huebchen said of his comic role as Jakob Zucker, a downtrodden sportswriter turned cash-strapped gambler.

"Alles auf Zucker" was nominated in 10 of 16 categories at the awards ceremony, broadcast on national television, while "Downfall" got only three nominations. The awards, sponsored by the German government, are worth a total 2.85 million euros (USD 3.6 million).

Jewish humor

"Alles auf Zucker," which pokes fun at German and Jewish cliches while ignoring rules about "political correctness" in Germany's uneasy relationship with Jews, is about two brothers raised on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall.

Jakob Zucker abandoned Jewish traditions after his mother and brother Samuel Zuckermann fled to the West just before the Berlin Wall went up. When their mother dies, the brothers meet for the first time in 40 years and learn they will only get their inheritance if they reconcile.

Watching Zucker's awkward efforts to reacquaint himself with Jewish customs after his life unravelled in the 15 years since East Germany collapsed, one neighbor offers the wry comment: "He's really had a lot of bad luck. And now he's even Jewish."

The movie has been praised by film critics and Jewish leaders alike for taking an everyday look at Jewish life in a country where films about Jewish themes have tended to focus on the Holocaust.

The film, which has struck a deeply appreciative chord in Germany and its 100,000-strong Jewish community 60 years after the Holocaust, was awarded the Ernst Lubitsch Prize for best German comedy by Berlin film journalists earlier this year.

"The genuine joy that this film generated has been the best part of the last few months," said director Dani Levy, who also won a share of best screenplay honors. "I made six films before this and I don't understand why this one is different.

Film with 'karma'

"Maybe it's some films just have karma," added Levy, 47, a Swiss-born Jew whose mother fled Berlin in 1939. "Maybe it's just the right film at the right place at the right time."

It took Levy four years to make "Alles auf Zucker" because it was difficult to find financial backing. Not only were producers and networks hesitant but older Jewish filmmakers in Germany also urged Levy not to make the film.

"I think this film was a sort of 'liberation' for a lot of people," Levy told Reuters. "People tell me how relieved they are after seeing the movie about Jews that they are free to laugh about. I'm happy audiences enjoy it."

The "Lolas," presented for the 55th year, are Germany's answer to Hollywood's Oscars and Britain's BAFTA film awards.