Jewish comedy sweeps German film prize awards

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) – A light-hearted comedy lampooning Jewish
life in Germany and shattering post-war taboos in the process
stole the show at the German Film Prize on Friday, winning six
awards in the world’s most lucrative film contest.

“Alles auf Zucker” (Go for Zucker: An Unorthodox Comedy),
the first Jewish comedy made in Germany since World War II, won
“Lola” awards for best film, best director and best actor, as
well as top honors for screenwriting, costume and music.

The film, which cost just 1.5 million euros but earned
three times that at the box office, was the runaway winner at
the awards, presented by the 600-member German Film Academy. It
beat blockbuster “Der Untergang” (Downfall), about Hitler’s
final days, which went home empty-handed.

“I just beat Hitler!” joked Henry Huebchen upon receiving
the best actor award ahead of Bruno Ganz, who was nominated for
his stirring and widely lauded performance as the Nazi
dictator.

“It’s just great — a little Communist guy of Jewish origin
beats Hitler,” Huebchen said of his comic role as Jakob Zucker,
a downtrodden sportswriter turned cash-strapped gambler.

“Alles auf Zucker” was nominated in 10 of 16 categories at
the awards ceremony, broadcast on national television, while
“Downfall” got only three nominations. The awards, sponsored by
the German government, are worth a total 2.85 million euros
($3.6 million).

Best actress went to Julia Jentsch for “Sophie Scholl.” The
only other film with more than one prize was “Rhythm is it!,”
featuring Sir Simon Rattle, director of the Berlin Philharmonic
orchestra. It won the best documentary and best editing prizes.

JEWISH HUMOUR IN GERMANY

“Alles auf Zucker,” which pokes fun at German and Jewish
cliches while ignoring rules about “political correctness” in
Germany’s uneasy relationship with Jews, is about two brothers
raised on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall.

Jakob Zucker abandoned Jewish traditions after his mother
and brother Samuel Zuckermann fled to the West just before the
Berlin Wall went up. When their mother dies, the brothers meet
for the first time in 40 years and learn they will only get
their inheritance if they reconcile.

Watching Zucker’s awkward efforts to reacquaint himself
with Jewish customs after his life unravelled in the 15 years
since East Germany collapsed, one neighbor offers the wry
comment: “He’s really had a lot of bad luck. And now he’s even
Jewish.”

The film, which has struck a deeply appreciative chord in
Germany and its 100,000-strong Jewish community 60 years after
the Holocaust, was awarded the Ernst Lubitsch Prize for best
German comedy by Berlin film journalists earlier this year.

“The genuine joy that this film generated has been the best
part of the last few months,” said director Dani Levy, who also
won a share of best screenplay honors. “I made six films before
this and I don’t understand why this one is different.

“Maybe it’s some films just have karma,” added Levy, 47, a
Swiss-born Jew whose mother fled Berlin in 1939. “Maybe it’s
just the right film at the right place at the right time.”

It took Levy four years to make “Alles auf Zucker” because
it was difficult to find financial backing. Not only were
producers and networks hesitant but older Jewish filmmakers in
Germany also urged Levy not to make the film.

“I think this film was a sort of ‘liberation’ for a lot of
people,” Levy told Reuters. “People tell me how relieved they
are after seeing the movie about Jews that they are free to
laugh about. I’m happy audiences enjoy it.”

The “Lolas,” presented for the 55th year, are Germany’s
answer to Hollywood’s Oscars and Britain’s BAFTA film awards.