German Film Award for Best Feature Film
The German Film Award for Best Feature 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.
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. In 1956 and 1961 no award was given, and on two occasions (in 1963 and 1970) the award was shared by two winning films.
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Two Times Lotte | Das doppelte Lottchen | BakyJosef von Báky |
| 1952 | Die Schuld des Dr. Homma | VerhoevenPaul Verhoeven | |
| 1953 | Nights on the Road aka The Mistress | Nachts auf den Straßen | Jugert, RudolfRudolf Jugert |
| 1954 | No Way Back | Weg ohne Umkehr | Vicas, VictorVictor Vicas |
| 1955 | Canaris: Master Spy | Canaris | Weidenmann, AlfredAlfred Weidenmann |
| 1956 | | ||
| 1957 | The Captain from Köpenick | Der Hauptmann von Köpenick | KautnerHelmut Käutner |
| 1958 | The Devil Came at Night | Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam | Siodmak, RobertRobert Siodmak |
| 1959 | Arms and the Man | Helden | WirthFranz Peter Wirth |
| 1960 | The Bridge | Die Brücke | Wicki, BernhardBernhard Wicki |
| 1961 | | ||
| 1962 | The Bread of Those Early Years | Das Brot der frühen Jahre | Vesely, HerbertHerbert Vesely |
| 1963 † | The Endless Night | Die endlose Nacht | Tremper, WillWill Tremper |
| 1963 † | The Lightship | Das Feuerschiff | Vajda, LadislaoLadislao Vajda |
| 1964 | The River Line | Kennwort... Reiher | Jugert, RudolfRudolf Jugert |
| 1965 | The House in Karp Lane | Das Haus in der Karpfengasse | Hoffmann, KurtKurt Hoffmann |
| 1966 | Young Törless | Der junge Törless | SchlondorffVolker Schlöndorff |
| 1967 | Yesterday Girl | Abschied von gestern | Kluge, AlexanderAlexander Kluge |
| 1968 | Tattoo | Tätowierung | Schaaf, JohannesJohannes Schaaf |
| 1969 | Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed | Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos | Kluge, AlexanderAlexander Kluge |
| 1970 † | Katzelmacher | FassbinderRainer Werner Fassbinder | |
| 1970 † | Malatesta | Lilienthal, PeterPeter Lilienthal | |
| 1971 | First Love | Erste Liebe | Schell, MaximilianMaximilian Schell |
| 1972 † | Trotta | Schaaf, JohannesJohannes Schaaf | |
| 1972 † | Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King | Syberberg, Hans-JürgenHans-Jürgen Syberberg | |
| 1973 | The Experts | Die Sachverständigen | KuckelmannNorbert Kückelmann |
| 1974 | The Pedestrian | Der Fußgänger | Schell, MaximilianMaximilian Schell |
| 1975 | Lina Braake | Sinkel, BernhardBernhard Sinkel | |
| 1976 | Calm Prevails Over the Country | Es herrscht Ruhe im Land | Lilienthal, PeterPeter Lilienthal |
| 1977 | Heinrich | Sanders-Brahms, HelmaHelma Sanders-Brahms | |
| 1978 | The Glass Cell | Die gläserne Zelle | GeissendorferHans W. Geißendörfer |
| 1979 | The Tin Drum | Die Blechtrommel | SchlondorffVolker Schlöndorff |
| 1980 | The Last Years of Childhood | Die letzten Jahre der Kindheit | KuckelmannNorbert Kückelmann |
| 1981 | Jede Menge Kohle | Adolf Winkelmann | |
| 1982 | Marianne and Juliane | Die bleierne Zeit | TrottaMargarethe von Trotta |
| 1983 | The State of Things | Der Stand der Dinge | Wenders, WimWim Wenders |
| 1984 | Where the Green Ants Dream | Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen | Herzog, WernerWerner Herzog |
| 1985 | Colonel Redl | Oberst Redl | SzaboIstván Szabó |
1986–present
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Rosa Luxemburg | TrottaMargarethe von Trotta | |
| 1987 | | ||
| 1988 | Wings of Desire | Der Himmel über Berlin | Wenders, WimWim Wenders |
| 1989 | Yasemin | Bohm, HarkHark Bohm | |
| 1990 | Last Exit to Brooklyn | Letzte Ausfahrt Brooklyn | Edel, UliUli Edel |
| 1991 | Malina | Schroeter, WernerWerner Schroeter | |
| 1992 | Schtonk! | Dietl, HelmutHelmut Dietl | |
| 1993 | | ||
| 1994 | Kaspar Hauser | Sehr, PeterPeter Sehr | |
| 1995 | Maybe... Maybe Not | Der bewegte Mann | Wortmann, SönkeSönke Wortmann |
| 1996 | Deathmaker | Der Totmacher | Karmakar, RomualdRomuald Karmakar |
| 1997 | Rossini – oder die mörderische Frage, wer mit wem schlief | Dietl, HelmutHelmut Dietl | |
| 1998 | The Harmonists | Comedian Harmonists | Vilsmaier, JosephJoseph Vilsmaier |
| 1999 | Run Lola Run | Lola rennt | Tykwer, TomTom Tykwer |
| 2000 | No Place to Go | Die Unberührbare | Roehler, OskarOskar Roehler |
| 2001 | The State I Am In | Die innere Sicherheit | PetzoldChristian Petzold |
| 2002 | Nowhere in Africa | Nirgendwo in Afrika | Link, CarolineCaroline Link |
| 2003 | Good Bye, Lenin! | Becker, WolfgangWolfgang Becker | |
| 2004 | Head-On | Gegen die Wand | Akın, FatihFatih Akın |
| 2005 | Go for Zucker | Alles auf Zucker! | Levy, DaniDani Levy |
| 2006 | The Lives of Others | Das Leben der Anderen | Henckel von Donnersmarck, FlorianFlorian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
| 2007 | Four Minutes | Vier Minuten | KrausChris Kraus |
| 2008 | The Edge of Heaven | Auf der anderen Seite | Akın, FatihFatih Akın |
| 2009 | John Rabe | Gallenberger, FlorianFlorian Gallenberger | |
| 2010 | The White Ribbon | Das weiße Band | Haneke, MichaelMichael Haneke |
| 2011 | Vincent Wants to Sea | Vincent will Meer | Huettner, RalfRalf Huettner |
| 2012 | Stopped on Track | Halt auf freier Strecke | Dresen, AndreasAndreas Dresen |
| 2013 | Oh Boy! | Oh Boy | Gerster, Jan-OleJan-Ole Gerster |
| 2014 | Home from Home | Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht | Reitz, EdgarEdgar Reitz |