A heart-warming German blockbuster, "Good Bye, Lenin!," dominated the European Film Awards, taking six top prizes at the 16th annual competition.

The bittersweet German c b vomedy -- about a son who conceals the fall of the Berlin Wall from his ailing mother because he fears the shock might kill her -- took best film, best actor, and best screenwriter.

It also won three "People's Choice" awards for best directing, best actress and best actor in the contest sometimes called the "European Oscars."

"Dogville," by Danish director Lars von Trier and starring Nicole Kidman, won best director and best cinematography.

German actor Daniel Bruehl won the European Film Academy statuette for best actor for "Good Bye, Lenin!" and Britain's Charlotte Rampling won best actress for her performance in "Swimming Pool."

"It's just incredible that more than 300 million people in Europe have picked a German film in the German language, this ugly German language," said "Good Bye, Lenin's" German producer Stefan Arndt, referring to a long-held belief that German films can't succeed commercially abroad.

"Good Bye, Lenin!" topped Germany's box office this year with 6.5 million tickets sold and has risen high in cinema charts in Britain and France. Distribution rights have been sold in 68 countries.

"I got tears in my eyes tonight," said Wolfgang Becker, whose film also won eight German Film Prize awards in the national contest in June.

The European Film Awards are presented in Berlin every second year and in other European cities in the alternate years. Next year the ceremony will be held in Barcelona.

"European films are so much better than their reputation in theaters around the world," said Wim Wenders, president of the European Film Academy and a German director. Some 360 films from 47 countries were submitted.

(Agencies)