'Sound of Falling' sweeps German Film Awards, winning 10 prizes

"Sound of Falling" (In die Sonne schauen), by director Mascha Schilinski, dominated the 2026 German Film Awards, winning 10 prizes including the top honour, the Golden Lola for best feature film.

The German Film Academy also honoured the drama with awards for best director, best screenplay and best supporting actress for Lena Urzendowsky at the ceremony on Friday evening. The film, which follows several women living on the same farm across different time periods, entered the awards with the most nominations.

İlker Çatak's political thriller "Yellow Letters" (Gelbe Briefe), which tells the story of an artist couple facing political repression in Turkey, received the Silver Lola. 

The Bronze Lola went to Simon Verhoeven's comedy "Oh, This Unspeakable Void" (Ach, diese Lücke, diese entsetzliche Lücke), based on Joachim Meyerhoff's novel of the same name.

Verhoeven's mother, veteran actress Senta Berger, won best actress for her performance in the film. The 85-year-old appeared visibly moved as she accepted her award, describing the day as "simply too much." 

Her co-star Michael Wittenborn was named best supporting actor, while August Diehl won best actor for his performance in "The Disappearance of Josef Mengele (Das Verschwinden des Josef Mengele).

Filmmaker Wim Wenders received the German Film Academy's honorary award for his outstanding services to German cinema.

The 80-year-old director, whose films include "Paris, Texas," "Wings of Desire," and "Perfect Days," used his acceptance speech to call for a broader discussion about how the film industry should handle controversial scenes in older works. 

Referring to the recent debate over a nude scene involving then-13-year-old Nastassja Kinskiin in his 1975 film "Wrong Move" (Falsche Bewegung), Wenders said he would not shoot the scene the same way today. However, he said he is "at a loss" as to how to deal with films made in a different era, as cutting the scene would set a precedent for all films to come.

Kinski recently told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that she had tried for years to have the scene removed from the film. 

Around 1,900 guests were invited to the event at Berlin's Funkturm, which was briefly interrupted by technical problems.