German Film Award for Best Fiction Film explained

The German Film Award for Best Fiction Film (German: Bester Spielfilm) is the main award given for best German film at the annual Deutscher Filmpreis awards, the German national film awards. It has been held annually since 1951 in varying formats. As the constitution said the prize was only awarded, if outstanding achievement was given, not every year a film was declared the winner of the prize. For the first three years, the Golden Candlestick was the highest honour for this category. It was then replaced by the Golden Bowl as a Challenge Prize, that would be passed to the winner of the next occasion, however as it was not given out for 17 years, the prize was abandoned for good in 1996. Regular prize winners receive a Film Award in Gold whereas the runners-up receive a silver award. A bronze award for the second runner-up was introduced in 2008. On some occasions, no film received the gold prize and a winner of the Silver Award was declared the best film of the year.

List of winning films

1951–1986

From 1951 to 1986 the prize was awarded by a commission which selected the best German feature film released in the previous 12 months.

YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirector(s)Trophy received
1951Two Times LotteDas doppelte Lottchen Golden Candlestick
1952
1953Nights on the Road aka The MistressNachts auf den Straßen Golden Candlestick
1954No Way BackWeg ohne Umkehr Golden Bowl
1955Canaris: Master SpyCanaris
1956
1957The Captain from KöpenickDer Hauptmann von Köpenick Golden Bowl
1958The Devil Strikes at NightNachts, wenn der Teufel kam
1959Arms and the ManHelden
1960The BridgeDie Brücke
1961
1962The Bread of Those Early YearsDas Brot der frühen Jahre Film Award in Silver
1963 Die endlose Nacht
The Lightship Das Feuerschiff
1964The River LineKennwort... Reiher Film Award in Gold
1965The House in Karp Lane Das Haus in der Karpfengasse
1966Young TörlessDer junge Törless
1967Yesterday Girl Abschied von gestern
1968Tattoo Tätowierung
1969 Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos
1970Katzelmacher
Malatesta
1971First Love
1972Trotta
1973The ExpertsDie Sachverständigen Golden Bowl
1974The Pedestrian Der Fußgänger
1975Lina Braake Film Award in Silver
1976 Es herrscht Ruhe im Land Golden Bowl
1977
1978The Glass CellDie gläserne Zelle Film Award in Gold
1979The Tin DrumDie Blechtrommel Golden Bowl
1980Die letzten Jahre der Kindheit Film Award in Silver
1981Jede Menge Kohle Adolf WinkelmannFilm Award in Gold
1982Marianne and JulianeDie bleierne Zeit
1983The State of Things Der Stand der Dinge
1984Where the Green Ants Dream Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen
1985Colonel RedlOberst Redl

1986–present

YearEnglish titleOriginal titleDirector(s)
1986Rosa Luxemburg
1987
1988Wings of DesireDer Himmel über Berlin
1989Yasemin
1990Last Exit to BrooklynLetzte Ausfahrt Brooklyn
1991Malina
1992Schtonk!
1993
1994
1995Maybe... Maybe Not Der bewegte Mann
1996DeathmakerDer Totmacher
1997Rossini – oder die mörderische Frage, wer mit wem schlief
1998The HarmonistsComedian Harmonists
1999Run Lola RunLola rennt
2000No Place to GoDie Unberührbare
2001The State I Am InDie innere Sicherheit
2002Nowhere in Africa Nirgendwo in Afrika
2003Good Bye, Lenin!
2004Head-On Gegen die Wand
2005Go for Zucker Alles auf Zucker!
2006The Lives of Others Das Leben der Anderen
2007Four Minutes Vier Minuten
2008The Edge of Heaven Auf der anderen Seite
2009John Rabe
2010The White Ribbon Das weiße Band
2011Vincent Wants to Sea Vincent will Meer
2012Stopped on Track Halt auf freier Strecke
2013A Coffee in Berlin Oh Boy
2014Home from Home Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht
Victoria Victoria
2016The People vs. Fritz Bauer Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer
2017Toni Erdmann Toni Erdmann
20183 Days in Quiberon 3 Tage in Quiberon
2019Gundermann Gundermann
2020System Crasher Systemsprenger
2021I'm Your Man Ich bin dein Mensch
2022Dear Thomas Lieber Thomas
2023The Teachers' Lounge Das Lehrerzimmer
2024Dying Sterben

External links