ASKANIA Award
2020

Over the past 13 years, the presentation of the ASKANIA AWARD has been the highlight among many outstanding events taking place in Berlin.

In 2020, the AWARD ceremony once again took place in the Wintergarten Varieté. On February 18, shortly before the Berlinale, numerous prominent representatives from the worlds of film, television, business and politics came together again to select the winners for the year 2020.

Background

Building on the great times of German film in the 1920s and the cinematic tradition of ASKANIA, the ASKANIA AWARD was launched in 2008, distinguishing the achievements of German film each year ever since.

During the opening week of the Berlinale, ASKANIA has been honoring personalities from the film industry with the ASKANIA AWARD, and the ASKANIA Shooting Star AWARD ever since 2008. Furthermore, since 2016, the ASKANIA Lifetime Achievement AWARD has been awarded and additionally, the Special Award in the field of film music has been awarded since 2020.

AWARD Winners 2020

Best Actor:
Ralph Herforth

The list of his achievements is very long. Since 1992 – the year of his debut on screen – he has been in the news with his various productions time and again. Renowned directors such as Fatih Akin, Friedemann Pious or Till Schweiger appreciate him and he is one of the most engaged actors in Germany. He gets his stamina from being a passionate athlete and he often benefits from his virtues in front of the camera. His determination, enthusiasm and perseverance earned him a lot of positive feedback for his roles and for the numerous series in which he is often a member of the regular cast. We are pleased to honor Ralph Herforth with the “Best Actor” ASKANIA AWARD 2020.

Honored with KUDAMM

Best Actress:
Gudrun Landgrebe

Indeed, that is rare in german film: a star that is also consistently high on the agenda of international directors. The breakthrough came in 1983 with die Flambierte Frau. Ever since, she achieved numerous successes – from cinema films such as István Szabo’s Oberst Redl or Dominik Graf’s Die Katze to tv highlights such as Edgar Reitz’s Heimat. In all these years she remained faithful to the stage and, among other things, impressed as Tochter der Luft by Hans-Magnus Enzensberger. She also performs readings, lends her voice to audiobooks and participates in various musical-literary programs. Versatility and class – Gudrun Landgrebe receives the ASKANIA AWARD 2020 as “Best Actress”.

Honored with ELLY BEINHORN

ASKANIA Shootingstar:
Jannis Niewöhner

When he first stood in front of the camera for Tatort in 2002, at the age of ten, the matter of a film career had not played a role yet. However, only a few years later, he was already part of the guild of young stars of the german film. The youth film Sommer was a milestone, which in 2008 earned him a nomination for the Undine Award as best youth supporting actor in Austria. From then on, one film followed the other, some of them with outstanding acting performances. His talent was also acknowledged abroad, as it is evident from his participation in the international production The Girl King under the direction of Mika Kaurismäki. Our ASKANIA AWARD 2020 “Shooting Star” is one of the numerous awards Jannis Niewoehner has received for his achievements.

Honored with C. BAMBERG

ASKANIA Lifetime Achievement:
Thomas Thieme

When a person’s lifetime achievement is honored, there are always important reasons for doing so. In this case, those are the outstanding accomplishments achieved in film and television over the decades. Since 1974, when he appeared on screen for the first time in Lotte in Weimar, until the recent past, his roles always brought him the highest honors: for example, the actor of the year award for the film Schlachten! In 2000 or the Hessian Film Award 2013 as best actor in Das Letzte Wort.. For his passion and talent for acting, he received the Golden Camera as “Best German Actor” in 2014. In view of this numerous achievements, we are pleased to honor Thomas Thieme with the ASKANIA “Lifetime Achievement” AWARD 2020.

Honored with a painting by Frank Wagner and a C. BAMBERG

ASKANIA AWARD film music:
Günther Fischer

Jazz and film music define his life. He is known and appreciated for both. First, he made a name for himself as a jazz musician and arranger. At the end of the 1970s, he shifted the focus of his work to film music, which is increasingly becoming an independent genre. He works for DEFA and international productions, and soon finds his place among the industry elite. His compositions quickly become cult and lead him to hollywood, where he works with united artists. Numerous nominations and prizes for the film music specialist, who has been living in ireland since 1998, bear witness to the appreciation of his work. It is for the very same reasons that we are pleased to honor Günther Fischer with the ASKANIA “Film Music” AWARD 2020.