Casting director An Dorthe Braker, known as “casting queen” of German cinema, will receive an honorary German Film Award for outstanding contributions to German cinema, the German film academy announced Monday.
Braker was a pioneer in Germany, bringing a U.S.-style casting approach to the German film industry in the early 1990s, before the profession was formally recognized in Germany. Through her work on such features as Run Lola Run, Downfall and Nowhere in Africa, she has elevated repeated generations of German talent to the international stage.
“Many biographies of actors would not have been written without her,” said German Film Academy president Alexandra Maria Lara, whose own breakthrough came in the Oscar-nominated Downfall. “With her strong, clear attitude, she has had a strong influence on the profession of casting directors and has done great things for German film.”
Braker’s many credits include the Oscar-nominated features The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) and Schtonk! (1992), pioneering TV series In the Face of Crime (2010) and Hell (2011), the first feature from September 5 director Tim Fehlbaum.
Braker will receive her honor at the 75th German Film Awards in Berlin on May 9. This year’s host, The Zone of Interest and The White Lotus actor Christian Friedel, also got one of his first big breaks via a Braker casting, when she recommended him for the lead in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s 13 Minutes (2015).
The nominations for the 2025 German film awards, or Lolas, will be unveiled on Monday, March 17.