Film on German war hero wins top prize honours

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - A film based on the true story of a German who helped save 200,000 Chinese civilians from the Nanking Massacre of 1937 was the big winner at the $4 million (2.7 million pounds) German Film Prize on Friday, winning six "Lola" awards.

"John Rabe," a German-Chinese co-production that shed light on a little-known story of a German businessman known to some as "China's Oskar Schindler," won four of the 15 awards: for best film, best actor, art direction and costume design.

The German Film Prize is the world's most lucrative film competition. The government underwrites the 2.8 million euros (2.5 million pounds) in prizes, which are distributed among the dozens of nominated films as an indirect subsidy for future projects.

More than 1,100 members of the German Film Academy cast votes in 15 categories. Presented annually since 1951, the "Lolas" are Germany's answer to Hollywood's Oscars and the BAFTA awards.

The other winner of the evening was Andreas Dresen, who finally got a best director for his film "Cloud 9" -- a romantic comedy about the love lives of senior citizens that also won the Lola for best actress for Ursula Werner.

The evening's big loser was Germany's Oscar-nominated drama "The Baader Meinhof Complex" about the 1970s Red Army Faction. Ironically, "Baader" was a success at the box office in Germany while "John Rabe" had a disappointing start last month.

Florian Gallenberger, director of "John Rabe," had expressed hopes his film could spark a healthy debate in Japan on the Nanking Massacre as well as Japan's war-time past.

"It's an extremely controversial subject in Japan," Gallenberger, whose own country has faced a sometimes turbulent reflection on its Nazi past in the wake of films on the Holocaust and Hitler decades later.