Theatrical distributors X Verleih, Salzgeber & Co Medien and Alamode Film have been awarded prizes worth Euros 100,000 each to invest in distribution campaigns for German and other European films.

Each of the companies was awarded the special distributor prize by German culture minister Christina Weiss in recognition of "their special achievement in the distribution of artistically outstanding films."

The winners were decided on the basis of the cultural quality of the distribution campaigns, the proportion of German films and proportion of other European films released as well as the attention given to re-releases of older films.

Alamode Film was only founded in 2001 and has already carved itself a niche with its release of such films as Hundstage and Under The Sand as well as focusing on rereleases of classics such as Amarcord and Some Like It Hot.

Salzgeber & Co. Medien, on the other hand, has made a name for itself over the last 19 years by dedicating itself to the promotion of quality documentaries ranging from Glanz Von Berlin through Bellaria to Paragraph 175.

Meanwhile, X Verleih - currently riding high in the cinema charts with Good Bye, Lenin! - was praised by the jury for its "profound expert knowledge, inventiveness and the marketing strategies that are exactly co-ordinated with the potential of the individual films."