Namesake

The award is named after Douglas Sirk, who was born Hans Detlef Sierck in Hamburg. He emigrated to the United States in 1937 and initially worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Sirk achieved his first major success as a director with the melodrama Summer Storm. In the years that followed, he went on to direct a number of highly acclaimed films, including Written on the Wind, A Time to Love and a Time to Die, and Imitation of Life.

Since 1995, the Douglas Sirk Award has been presented at the Filmfest Hamburg to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to film culture and the film industry. Clint Eastwood was the first to receive the statuette, designed by Hamburg-based artist Georg Plum.

Laureats

Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (2025), Andrea Arnold (2024) and Jacques Audiard (2024), Sandra Hüller (2023), Leos Carax (2021), Nina Hoss (2019), Jafar Panahi (2018), Wim Wenders (2017), Catherine Deneuve (2015), Fatih Akin (2014), Tilda Swinton (2013), Kim Ki-duk (2012), Andreas Dresen, Peter Rommel (2011), Julian Schnabel (2010), Atom Egoyan (2008), David Cronenberg (2007), Gérard Depardieu (2006), Zentropa (2005), François Ozon (2004), Isabelle Huppert (2003), Aki Kaurismäki (2002), Majid Majidi (2001), Wong Kar-Wai (2000), Jim Jarmusch (1999), Peter Weir (1998), Jodie Foster (1997), Stephen Frears (1996), Cint Eastwood (1995)