🎬 New Berlin Film Awards for Lana Cooper and Celina Scharff – Awards Ceremony at the achtung berlin Film Festival 2026

The Award for Best Acting — shared equally between two winners

For the eleventh consecutive year, UCM.ONE and its Berlin film label Darling Berlin sponsored the Best Acting Award. It is endowed with 1,000 euros in cash, which is divided equally—500 euros each—between two actors. This year’s feature film jury, consisting of director and writer Christoph Hochhäusler, actress Christina Große, and producer Mariam Shatberashvili, decided on the award. This year, Lana Cooper and Celina Scharff were honored.

The award went to Celina Scharff for her title role in “Luisa” (directed by Julia Roesler; screenplay by Julia Roesler and Silke Merzhäuser; produced by werkgruppe2 Filmproduktion and Hanfgarn & Ufer in co-production with ZDF — Das kleine Fernsehspiel). The film tells the story of a young woman who lives in a residential group for people with disabilities on the outskirts of a small German town, and whose daily life of parties, flirting, and part-time jobs is turned upside down one day when she becomes pregnant without realizing it. What follows is an investigation that the film does not resolve, but leaves open: in what kind of environment sexual violence occurs, who sees it, who overlooks it, and what responsibility an institution bears that cares for both sides. For Celina Scharff, this is her debut in a leading role—and, as those close to the director put it, “the film’s captivating powerhouse.” The fact that the feature film jury also honored “Luisa” in the categories of Best Screenplay, Best Production, and Best Costume Design underscores the film’s cohesive impact.

The award also went to Lana Cooper for her role in “Das Glück der Tüchtigen” by Franz Müller (screenplay by Franz Müller and Marcus Seibert; produced by 2Pilots Filmproduktion and Mizzi Stock Entertainment in co-production with WDR/arte). The story follows Mira—wife, mother, and, most recently, manager of a supermarket—whose carefully balanced life begins to unravel due to a single moment of dishonesty. Alongside Katharina Derr in the lead role, Cooper plays a character who adheres to Mira’s version of events until the question of how much truth a close relationship can withstand becomes her own yardstick

For Lana Cooper, the award has its own history at the same venue. In 2016, Cooper was already honored once for her work at the 12th edition of the achtung berlin filmfestival—at that time in the separate category “Best Actress” for her leading role in “Looping” by Leonie Krippendorff. Ten years later, she receives the acting award from the same festival again, but in a category whose name and structure have changed in the meantime. The difference between “Best Actress 2016” and “Best Performance 2026” is not primarily a biographical entry, but rather a brief journey through time in the country’s award culture.

Winners of the 22nd Achtung Berlin Film Festival

Weiteren Informationen zum Festival und dem Programm: achtung berlin

Weiteren Informationen über das Filmlabel: Darling Berlin