TWIG - Given the considerable box office clout of several recently released home-grown movies, the German Film Academy has heralded a "golden autumn" for German cinema.

Over the past few weekends, an average of five of the top ten films showing at movie theatres across the country were German productions. As reported by dpa, "7 Zwerge - Der Wald ist nicht genug" (Seven Dwarves - The forest isn’t thick enough), starring veteran German comedian Otto Waalkes, has hit the top of the box office charts.

Sönke Wortmann’s documentary about the World Cup "Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen" (Germany, a Summer Fairytale) also led the pack. Following hot on the soccer docudrama’s heels was "Run Lola Run" director Tom Tykwer’s "Das Parfum" (Perfume), based on the bestseller by Patrick Süskind, with an international cast featuring Dustin Hoffman and due to open in the United States on December 8.

Another German film which made it into the "top ten" was "Ein Freund von mir" (A Friend of Mine), starring popular rising star Daniel Brühl of "Goodbye, Lenin" fame and acclaimed Hamburg-born actor Jürgen Vogel, who played the lead in Chris Kraus’ 2002 award-winning drama "Shattered Glass" (Scherbentanz). The heartwarming comedy "Wer früher stirbt, is länger tot" (If you die early, you’re dead longer), directed by Markus H. Rosenmüller and set in his native Bavaria, also made it into the top ten final cut.

"This underscores that German films have established themselves onscreen this autumn against the traditional dominance of Hollywood," the German Film Academy said in a recent statement.