Cinema Award 2024

What an honor! The award recognizes our long-standing dedication to preserving the magic of classic cinema and our commitment to historical film formats. Since our foundation, we have established ourselves as a place where film history remains alive. Through the passionate work of our students and alumni, cinematic heritage is not only preserved but also actively celebrated.

The jury particularly highlighted our work with 35mm and 16mm film formats, the training of our projectionists in the classic art of projection and the creative decisions of our volunteer team.

The news two weeks before the award ceremony hit us all rather abruptly, really no one could have expected it. Since 2023, we have offered a continuous public programme in the city for the first time, since 2024 we have been semi-organized as an association for the first time and have just begun to understand what it means to run a cinema. We submitted our 2023 program for the Kinemathekenverbund's cinema prize more for fun and as an exercise in communicating with the outside world. There were few screenings that year, the Blaue Salon was still under construction until April of that year and the summer semester was only started on a makeshift basis with 16mm cinema and very few screenings, as there was virtually no technology, projection and infrastructure in the newly renovated cinema hall. The shock was all the greater when we received the news from the Deutsche Kinemathek that we had won the first prize in the category “Cinema that looks back” and the joy and euphoria in the team was all the greater after the first shock.

Tumultuous conditions in the Telegram group, travel preparations, what do we wear, who will give the acceptance speech and what kind of award is this, who won it in the past, how big is the honor, how should we classify it now, we gathered ourselves for another two weeks, realized that this award is usually given to cinema giants like the DFF in Frankfurt, the Filmmuseum Munich or the Metropolis Hamburg and were then finally ready to make the trip to Berlin.

The award ceremony was on Saturday, October 26th, we traveled to Berlin with a small group (Luca, Jason, Yael, Philip and Julia), where Leo, our webmaster also joined us. The ICE departed at 6:02 a.m. from platform 3 at Karlsruhe main station. Luca was stuck in the Karlsruhe subway, he had missed the train and was collected by Philip with the Stadtmobil. Tired and happy that no one had to be left behind, we drove to Berlin.

Philip had to struggle with the fact that he was supposed to give the speech and looked like a zombie, as he had gone to bed at 3:00 that night and the alarm clock rang at a quarter to 5, attempts to sleep in the train failed.

After arriving in Berlin at around 1 p.m. and after everyone had checked into their accommodation (and after Philips attempts to sleep failed again) we met at Potsdamer Platz at 4:45 p.m. to watch a movie together that Luca had recommended.

As part of the Deutsche Kinemathek's “Film Restored Festival”, in which the film award was also embedded, Doris Dörrie's film “Rine or Shine” was shown in the Arsenal Kino, a documentary about a country cinema in the deepest Bavarian province, in which a cinema operator in the 1970s fearlessly looked cinema death in the eye. The famous director was with us and we listenend to her talking about the making of the film and its restauration. The award ceremony was supposed to take place after the movie at 20:00, Philip tried to sleep, but he couldn't.

We went to Vapiano around the corner and ordered something to eat, and Philip ordered a wine to get in the mood. We ordered via the app and a short time later the tablet arrived with our orders, which, funnily enough, were penne with pesto basilico with one exception. Philip was cheered up and told he would manage.

Then everything went very quickly, we went back to the Filmhaus, everyone was already there, the cinema operators were standing in small groups, old hands, they knew each other, we didn't know anyone, and sneaked into the cinema. A short pre-film, introduction, would our category come right at the beginning, yes, it would, first the second seats, 4 cinemas, all familiar names, nobody had to say anything into the microphone, a load off our minds, everyone stayed on the stage, great not to be up there alone, but no, no, the second seats were shooed off the stage again, no, stay there! Now we, eyes closed and through, a microphone is handed to us, oh no, why? A little explanation from the jury, we feel honored and then the microphone, now we have to say something, yes good, thank you, right? Many thanks to everyone, the HfG and everyone who always believed in us, no drama, stay objective. And then it was over.

After all, there were 21 prizes, the main prize, the Lotte Eisner Prize, went to the Zeughauskino, good work, colleagues, we thought proudly and patronizingly. Then the honorary award went to Helke Sander, whose request to the laudatory speaker to keep it short was obviously not heeded. And then it was party time. In the event hall on the 4th floor of the Filmhaus there was wine, beer, pretzels and a DJ. A few more photos were taken for the press and then it was off to the dance floor, Luca wanted to go all the way because his train left early on Sunday morning and tried to advertise this endeavor by trying to get everyone drunk.

Then came the brief highlight of the event: Helke Sander's walking stick had disappeared. Music off, lights on, all the senior staff of the Deutsche Kinemathek were visibly in an uproar, a catastrophe, Ms. Sander was indignant, she wanted to go home, but not without her cane. Philip and Leo had seen Ms. Sander leave the event hall with her walking stick a few minutes earlier, but according to their explanation, the stick must have been left behind in the event hall. She had probably lost count, and while the whole of cinema Germany searched the room for the honorary award winner's cane, Philip quietly disappeared into the lobby, where he had seen Sander go a few minutes earlier. And there was the cane, hanging relaxed on the railing by the checkroom. Anke Hahn came around the corner in a panic and her face lit up as if she had just witnessed a miracle. Philip was now given the honor by Ms. Hahn that, as the rightful finder of the cane, he could now hand it over to its owner. The hall was filled with applause and roaring, which exceeded the prize-giving ceremony in the Arsenal Cinema by several decibels. Everyone was happy, Ms. Sander could finally go home, the rest stayed, the wine flowed and everyone could celebrate in style.

Afterwards we sat down in the hotel bar of the Motel One, where Jason was staying, and let the day come to a relaxed end; at 3 a.m. it was time to say goodnight and split up into the various accommodations. The next day we strolled through sunny Berlin, visited hip cafés and then it was time to head back to Karlsruhe, our first prize in the bag...

A huge thank you goes to everyone who has contributed to this success! You make the Blauer Salon a unique place of film culture. We look forward to many more unforgettable movie nights with you! 🎬✨