German movie “Das Leben der Anderen” (The Lives Of Others) won the best film award at the European Film Awards on Saturday in Warsaw, Poland.
‘The Lives of Others,’ a drama about a secret policeman in Communist East Germany, is a first feature by 33-year-old Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
Von Donnersmarck also won the writing prize for his screenplay beating Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Volver.’
‘Volver’ won five awards, including best director and best actress for Penelope Cruz.
Von Donnersmarck said,
It means a lot to me to get this award here, since my father was born in this country. I think, in a way, all of the world was torn apart by communism in the way that our country was torn apart. I think it tells a very European story.
Donnersmarck told the audience he lived in a monastery to avoid distraction while writing the first draft of the film, set five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Donnersmarck’s uphill struggle is praiseworthy and of course he achieved his reward by winning best film award. This was Florian first feature and I hope he will contribute such good films in future also. I wish him good luck for his further assignments.
