Jewish Comedy Six-Times Awarded by the German Film Academy

Six "Lola" awards went to the light-hearted Jewish comedy "Alles auf Zucker" (Go For Zucker: An Unorthodox Comedy"), the first Jewish comedy in Germany since World War II.

The small-budget film was highly appreciated by the 600-member German Film Academy, according to Reuters.

"Alles auf Zucker", the runaway winner ahead of blockbuster "Der Untergang" (Downfall) collected "Lola"awards for best film, best screenplay, best director, best actor (Henry Huebchen), and two other categories, at the 55th edition of the German competition, similar to Hollywood's Oscars and Britain's BAFTA film awards.

The Jewish comedy, directed by the Swiss filmmaker Dani Levy, was nominated in 10 of the 15 categories.

The movie tells the story of the Jewish Zuckermann family, divided for forty years by the Berlin Wall and the open hostiltity between the Frankfurt/Main branch and their Berlin counterparts.

Even after reunification the warring factions continue to lead separate lives, until the death of matriarch Mama Zuckerman draws them together. In her will, she states that brothers Jakob (Henry Hübchen) and Samuel (Udo Samel) are entitled to their inheritance on the strict condition they settle their differences.

This all comes at a most inconvenient moment for Jakob, a rascally sports journalist who calls himself Jackie Sugar and has suppressed his Jewish roots all these years.
Still, he is massively in debt and there's no guarantee he'll win the 100,000 Euro prize in a big pool tournament. Perhaps a policy of rapprochement with Orthodox Samuel isn't such a bad idea after all.
(source: goethe.de/ Goethe-Institut Australia)

"Go For Zucker is a genial comedy, for all, who always wondered, how to become kosher in one day, how orthodox patriarchs dance in ecstasy-trance and how an 'ostalgic'-sexclub looks like." (Bernhard Hübner, Münchner Abendzeitung)




Dani Levy was born in 1957 in Basel/Switzerland. From 1977-1979, he was in the ensemble of the Basel Theater and was a member of Berlin's Rote Grütze Theater from 1980-1983.

Levy has been awarded several international prizes including the FIPRESCI Critics' Award at San Sebastian for I Was on Mars and the Hypo Bank Young Director's Award for Ohne Mich at the Munich Filmfest in 1993. He has also acted in various feature and TV films.

Dani Levy was just awarded with the Ernst Lubitsch Prize for Go for Zucker! An Unorthodox Comedy, 2004.

Filmography:

2004 ALLES AUF ZUCKER!
2002 VÄTER
2001 ADRIANO - LETZTE WARNUNG
1999 DAS GEHEIMNIS DER SICHERHEIT
1997 MESCHUGGE
1995 STILLE NACHT
OHNE MICH
1991 I WAS ON MARS
1988 ROBBYKALLEPAUL
1986 DU MICH AUCH