The-Heiner-Carow-Prize

Since 2013, the DEFA Foundation has awarded a German feature or documentary film with the Heiner Carow Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). The prize, which was part of the Panorama Awards until 2019, is now awarded to a film in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino (Perspectives on German Cinema) category. The winner receives a 5,000-Euro award and is selected by a three-person jury.

Since 2017, the awards ceremony has been accessible to the hearing and visually impaired thanks to written, audio und sign language interpretation.

Film still for "Coming out" — COMING OUT

Matthias Freihof and director Heiner Carow during shooting, in 1989. (Photo: Wolfgang Fritsche)

With this award, the DEFA Foundation honors filmmaker Heiner Carow (1929-1997), who directed many important films at the DEFA Studios in Babelsberg, including THEY CALLED HIM AMIGO (1959), THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING (1968), THE LEGEND OF PAUL AND PAULA (1973), ICARUS (1976), UNTIL DEATH DO US PART (1979), and COMING OUT (1989), for which he received the Silver Bear for Best Film and the Teddy Award at the 1990 Berlinale.

The Heiner Carow Prize is one of several Berlinale prizes that are awarded by independent juries on behalf of organizations and institutions that are independent of the festival.

For more information about the Heiner-Carow-Prize, please visit the German-language website of the DEFA Foundation.

The-Heiner-Carow-Prize