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Bruno Ganz To Be Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award From European Film Academy

Best known for his now viral performance as Hitler in the brilliant Oliver Hirschbiegel film, Downfall, actor Bruno Ganz is finally about to get his day in the spotlight, thanks to the European Film Academy.



According to Anne Thompson, the actor, and star of the wonderful Wim Wenders film, Wings Of Desire, will be given a special award at the European Film Awards, when they take place on December 4.



Personally, this has been a long time coming, and something that is more than deserved.   Continuing to work today in films like The Reader, the actor has a marvelous filmography, particularly the Criterion staple Wings, a powerful and visually striking film, that features a performance from Ganz that is so haunting, that it is easily one of the best that I’ve ever seen.   If you haven’t given the film a chance, Wings Of Desire is an absolute must own, for both the film as a whole, but particularly Ganz’s performance.

Source: TOH

From the European Film Academy Press Release:

Whether it is as an angel in WINGS OF DESIRE (1987) by Wim Wenders, in the Italian comedy BREAD & TULIPS (2000) by Silvio Soldini, or impersonating Adolf Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s THE DOWNFALL (2004), Bruno Ganz has lent his face to some of cinema’s most unforgettable moments. In the 70s and 80s Bruno Ganz has worked with the greats of German auteur cinema like Werner Herzog (NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE, 1979), Volker Schlöndorff (CIRCLE OF DECEIT, 1981), and Wim Wenders (THE AMERICAN FRIEND, 1977; FAR AWAY, SO CLOSE!, 1993). Throughout his impressive international career he has worked with the likes of Eric Rohmer (THE MARQUISE OF O, 1976), Theo Angelopoulos (ETERNITY AND A DAY, 1998), and Francis Ford Coppola (YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, 2007), he starred in Eric Till’s LUTHER (2003), in THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX by Uli Edel (2008) and in THE READER by Stephen Daldry (2008). Together with actress Iris Berben, he was elected President of the German Film Academy in 2010.

The European Film Academy takes great pleasure in presenting Bruno Ganz with the EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for his outstanding and dedicated body of work.

Bruno Ganz will be an honorary guest at the 23rd European Film Awards Ceremony on 4 December 2010 in Tallinn.

The European Film Awards 2010 are presented by the European Film Academy e.V. and EFA Productions gGmbH with the support of European Capital of Culture Tallinn 2011, Estonian Ministry of Culture, the City of Tallinn, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Enterprise Estonia, Estonian Public Broadcasting, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and BDG.

Berlin, 15 September 2010

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.

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