Maren Ade’s German dramedy Toni Erdmann on Wednesday added another award to its trophy case, winning the Lux Film Prize, the annual film honor handed out by the European Parliament.
The award recognizes films that contribute to the “debate and reflection on Europe and its future.”
Toni Erdmann, which premiered in Cannes to near-universal critical acclaim, stars Sandra Huller as an ambitious business woman whose career path is thrown off course when her father, a tireless practical joker (Peter Simonischek), pays her an unannounced visit as his alter ego Toni Erdmann, a wacky “consultant and life coach.”
While the pic was snubbed by the Cannes jury, Toni Erdmann has been picking up awards ever since, winning the FIPRESCI international critics award for film of the year, earning best film honors at the Brussels International Film Festival and taking home the audience award at the Seville European Film Festival, among many other laurels.
The European Parliament called the pic “a story about a father and daughter trying to reconnect in tragicomic circumstances, set against the backdrop of contemporary European society.”
Toni Erdmann is Germany’s submission for the Oscars’ best foreign-language film race and is considered a frontrunner for a nomination.
