The top prize or Golden Lola at the German Film Academy's annual German film awards went to Matthias Glasner's drama "Dying" about a dysfunctional family.
The three-hour film won a total of four prizes: In addition to best film music (Lorenz Dangel), Corinna Harfouch was honoured for best leading actress and Hans-Uwe Bauer for best supporting male role.
The awards were presented at a gala at the Theatre on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin on Friday evening.
Adrian Goiginger's historical film "The Fox" about the strange relationship between a soldier and a fox during World War II won the Silver Lola. Actor Simon Morzé received an award for the best male lead role.
The Bronze Lola went to the political thriller "In the Blind Spot" by Ayşe Polat. The director was also honoured with a film award for best director and best screenplay.
Earlier, actress Hanna Schygulla, best-known for her extensive collaboration with the late German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, accepted the German Film Academy's lifetime achievement award at Friday's gala ceremony in front of some 1,600 guests from the film and cultural sectors.
Schygulla, 80, starred in Fassbinder films including "The Marriage of Maria Braun" (1979) and "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1980). She also worked with other acclaimed European directors including Wim Wenders, Jean-Luc Godard, Carlos Saura and Fatih Akin.
"So much honour. I used to not like the word at all. But now I feel that it does me good too," Schygulla said.
In a pensive acceptance speech, which she had hand-written on various pieces of paper, Schygulla examined the concept of being an icon.
Schygulla is considered a major star of post-war German independent cinema.
When the producers had music played to signal that it was time for Schygulla to leave the stage, she lingered, telling the audience that as an icon, she also likes to do things in an out-of-the-ordinary manner.
The award-winning actress was born in 1943 and lives in Paris and Berlin. She began working with Fassbinder in the 1960s, and their collaboration shaped German cinema and launched her to international acclaim.
Schygulla can currently be seen in a supporting role in the Oscar-winning comedy "Poor Things" by director Giorgos Lanthimos.
Schygulla is one of the founding members of the German Film Academy.
Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer made an urgent appeal to filmmakers.
"When I came back 14 years ago, I would never have imagined what is going on in public now," she said, referring to anti-Semitic crimes and anti-Israeli sentiment.
"That's how it started back then," the 102-year-old said in a reference to the Nazi era.
"There are a lot of storytellers in this room. You have a responsibility to use the power of film to make sure this never happens again," Friedländer asserted.
