Oliver Hirschbiegel's feature debut Das Experiment was the highest entry in this week's German box office chart with the highest screen averages for box office takings and admissions ($6,282 and 1,031) from its 229-print opening.

The hard-hitting thriller about a group of volunteers agreeing to take part in a scientific experiment in a prison-like environment which goes terribly wrong, has restored self-confidence in the local industry which has recently seen few hits, with the exception of another Senator release, Lars Buechel's Jetzt oder Nie, and Franziska Buch's Erich Kaestner update Emil Und Die Detektive (currently at position six in the chart).

In addition, this weekend saw Munich-based distributor MFA pass the one million admissions mark with its release of the German-Swedish animation feature Petterson Und Findus - now the most successful title in the company's seven year history . The benchmark came just as MFA was named "The Best European Distributor for Animation" as part of the first "Cartoon Movie Tributes" to be presented at the Cartoon Movie coproduction market in Babelsberg