63rd annual German Film Awards

"Oh Boy" also won best screenplay, best director for Gerster (pictured above) and best score on Friday in Berlin. Tom Shilling, 31, and Michael Gwisdek, 71, were honored respectively as best actor and best supporting actor for their roles in the film. "Oh Boy" is the episodic story of a day in the life of a directionless young man in Berlin.

Although tipped as the favorite in the run-up to the awards ceremony, the $100 million (76-million-euro) production "Cloud Atlas" was honored only in the technical categories. Tom Tyker's adaptation of the eponymous novel by David Mitchell won best film editing, cinematography, production design, costume design and makeup.

"Cloud Atlas," made in conjunction with American directors Andrew and Lana Wachowski, takes place in numerous locations over the course of 500 years. Not only was it the most expensive German film of all time, but also one of the most expensive independent productions ever made.

Best actress went to 63-year-old Barbara Sukowa for her lead role in the film "Hannah Arendt," a biography of the life of the German-Jewish philosopher. Christina Schorn, 63, won best supporting actress for her performance in "Life is Nothing for Cowards" (Das Leben ist nichts für Feiglinge).

Seventy-year-old director Werner Herzog was honored for his lifetime contribution to German film. Herzog is widely regarded as one of the most important figures of the New German Cinema movement, a period from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, which saw a renaissance in filmmaking. A resident of Los Angeles, he has also had a successful career in Hollywood.

slk/lw (AFP, dpa)