Hans Weingartner's Cannes competition film The Edukators(Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei) was the big winner at this year's GermanCinema Support Prize which was presented at this week's Munich Film Festival.

Prizes in three of the four categories were taken byWeingartner's film: the Euros 40,000 Prize for Best Director, the Euros 10,000Prize for Best Actor to Stipe Erceg (also for his performance in Such MichNicht), and the Prize for Best Screenplay to Weingartner andco-screenwriter Katharina Held.

In addition, the Euros 10,000 Prize for Best Actress went toMarie-Luise Schramm for her performance in Katinka Feistl's Bin Ich Sexy.

Weingartner's triumph was, however, marred somewhat bycontinuing confusion about the awarding of the Best Screenplay Prize to hisfilm.

Originally, only two films - Marco Kreupaintner's Sommersturmand Alexander Buresch's Such Mich Nicht - were nominated for thiscategory because it had been understood by the Prize's organisers thatWeingartner's film had been improvised without a screenplay. Subsequently, itwas realised that he and Katharina Held had indeed drafted a screenplay for thefilm and it was nominated at the last minute.

Since the Support Prize's regulations specify that afilmmaker may not win a prize in more than one category, it was initiallysuggested after the awards ceremony that the film would be awarded the Prizebut would have to forfeit the prize money of Euros 20,000.

The official press release issued on July 1 (Thursday)stated that the Screenplay Prize 'could not be awarded this year' andthat Held and Weingartner were being recognised for their 'scenictreatment' for a screenplay running to 126 pages.

Whether the jury of actress Sophie von Kessel, film directorHans-Christian Schmid and critic Michael Althen made their decision on thebasis of the respective screenplays seems unlikely, since ScreenDaily.comlearnt during Thursday that none of the companies entering films for thiscategory were required to submit a screenplay.

Moreover, Screendaily.com was told by Lothar Just - spokesman of the Prize's sponsors HypoVereinsbank,broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk and Bavaria Film - that the latestdevelopment regarding the Screenplay Prize is that Katharina Held will receiveEuros 10,000 and the other Euros 10,000 will go to an as yet unnamed Germanfilm school.