Producer-distributor Bernd Eichinger has been voted as themost important player in the German film business in an industry surveypublished on Sunday.

Industry veteran Eichinger saw his production of OliverHirschbiegel's Hitler bunker drama Downfallreceive a nomination in the Academy Awards' Foreign Language Filmcategory last month.

A jury of leading film critics, TV executives, andexhibitors including SAT.1's managing director Roger Schawinski, ZDFdirector-general Markus Schaechter, UCI Kinowelt's Ralf Schilling, andCinemaxX's Hans-Joachim Flebbe were able to choose from a list of producers,directors, film funders and cultural policymakers drawn up by the editorialteam of the German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

According tothe jury, the Top 10 most important men and women in German cinema are:

1) Bernd Eichinger, producer, director

2) Michael 'Bully' Herbig, producer, director,actor

3) Fatih Akin, director

4) Stefan Arndt, producer

5) Daniel Bruehl, actor

6) Tom Tykwer, director

7) Caroline Link, director

8) Wolfgang Becker, director

9) Dieter Kosslick, festival director

10) Jacob Claussen and Thomas Woebke, producers