Deutsche Filmakademie

The Deutsche Filmakademie is a German independently run organization with a focus on filmmaking. History The academy was founded in 2003 in Berlin, on the initiative of Helmut Dietl, Bernd Eichinger, and Ulrich Felsberg. It initially comprised 100 members— and was intended as a way to provide native filmmakers a forum for discussion and a way to promote the reputation of German cinema through publications, presentations, discussions, and regular promotion of the subject in schools. Since 2005, the winners of the Deutscher Filmpreis (colloquially known as the Lolas) have been elected by members of the Deutsche Filmakademie. In 2007, a group of academy critics—including filmmakers Hans-Christian Schmid, Andres Veiel, and Hans Weingartner, several film festival directors, and the German association of film critics—opened talks with German culture minister Bernd Neumann, in an effort to return to the previous system and have politicians and critics, not academy members, decide who gets the Lolas.