Since 1986, the Berlin International Film Festival has presented the Berlinale Camera to film personalities or institutions to which it feels particularly indebted and wishes to express its thanks with this award.
Austrian actor Karlheinz Böhm will be honoured with the Berlinale Camera at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival for his achievements in German film and his humanitarian engagement as founder of the organization "Menschen für Menschen".
Berlin actor, radio play and voice artist Otto Sander will be awarded the Berlinale Camera during the Film Festival 2008 for his great services to film and his many memorable performances over the years.
Karlheinz Böhm astonished the international film world in 1960 with his portrayal of a serial murderer in Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. Known until then primarily for his role as young Emperor Franz Josef in the Sissi movies (1955-1957, alongside Romy Schneider), he attracted attention both at home and abroad in the next years. Under the direction of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, he appeared in Martha (1973), Fontane Effi Briest (1974) and Mother Küster's Trip to Heaven (1975). A recipient of the German "Filmband in Gold" (1983), Karlheiz Böhm was awarded the Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood among Peoples (the largest monetary prize of its kind) in November 2007 for his untiring efforts for the people of Ethiopia.
Karlheinz Böhm will be awarded the Berlinale Camera on February 13 at 9:30 p.m. in the Filmpalast. Frank Elstner will speak in his honour. After the ceremony there will be a special screening of the film Peeping Tom by Michael Powell.
Successful on the stage in the 1960s and 1970s, Otto Sander achieved international acclaim above all with his portrayal of the angel Cassiel in Wings of Desire (1987) by Wim Wenders and submarine captain Philipp Thomsen in The Boat (1981) by Wolfgang Petersen. Following stints at the Freie Volksbühne Berlin under the direction of Claus Peymann and Berlin's Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer under the direction of Peter Stein, Otto Sander could be seen in The Marquise of O by Éric Rohmer (1976) and The Tin Drum by Volker Schlöndorff (1979).
Otto Sander will be awarded the Berlinale Camera on February 15 at 9:30 p.m. in the Filmpalast. Bruno Ganz will speak in his honour. To mark the occasion, his film Z.B.. Otto Spalt (1988) by René Perraudin will be shown afterwards.
Since 2004, the Düsseldorf jeweller Georg Hornemann has donated the award. For the Berlinale 2008, the trophy has been redesigned by Georg Hornemann himself. The new Berlinale Camera has 128 components and is modelled on a real camera. Many of the silver and titanium parts are movable, from the swivel head to tripod.