Fatih Akin wins EU film prize

BERLIN, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Fatih Akin, the Turkish-born, German director of "The Edge of Heaven," has won the European Parliament's first Lux prize for cinema, Deutsche Welle reported.

By winning the Tower of Babel-inspired trophy, the German-language film will now be subtitled in all 22 official EU languages, the newspaper said.

The film's star, Hanna Schygulla, accepted the award on Akin's behalf.

The prize was presented by EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering, who said the honor was bestowed "to illustrate the linguistic richness and artistic creativity" of European cinema.

"The Edge of Heaven," which uses German and Turkish actors, is the second film in a trilogy, which also features "Head On," winner of the 2004 Golden Bear prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

"The Edge of Heaven" beat out the Romanian film "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" and the Franco-Portuguese entry "Belle toujours" for the Lux prize.