# Kokowääh
**Kokowääh** is a 2011 German comedy directed by [Til Schweiger](https://www.edgepedia.org/til-schweiger), with Torsten Künstler as co-director; Til Schweiger co-wrote the screenplay with Béla Jarzyk, produced the film through his company Barefoot Films, and plays the lead role of Henry, a screenwriter whose life is upended when an eight-year-old girl claiming to be his daughter appears at his door[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) • [8](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/kokowaah_8c026a23e81f4934e040007f0100684d). The girl is played by Emma Schweiger, the director's own daughter[2](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/kokowaeaeh). The film was one of the most successful German productions of 2011, drawing 4,317,017 admissions in German cinemas by December of that year[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | Kokowääh (Germany, 2011), a phonetic spelling of the French dish coq au vin[3](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/film/2011-01/film-kokowaeaeh) |
| Director and lead | Til Schweiger as Henry; co-director Torsten Künstler[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) |
| Screenplay | Béla Jarzyk and Til Schweiger[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) |
| Main cast | Til Schweiger (Henry), Emma Schweiger (Magdalena), Jasmin Gerat (Katharina), Samuel Finzi (Tristan), Meret Becker (Charlotte)[4](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/195406) |
| German release | 3 February 2011; FSK rating: ages 6 and up, holiday-approved[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) |
| German admissions | 4,317,017 (as of December 2011, source FFA)[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) |
| Worldwide gross | $50,448,784, of which $42,932,362 in Germany[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1700258/) |
| Awards | FBW Prädikat wertvoll (2011); Jupiter Award 2012, Best Actor National[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Henry is a screenwriter with no luck in either work or love. His life consists of a series of unsuccessful relationships and professional setbacks, and the television series he writes for is failing[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) • [6](https://www.fernsehserien.de/filme/kokowaeaeh). Things seem to turn around when he is hired as co-author of a prestigious screen adaptation of a best-selling novel, and his co-author turns out to be his ex-girlfriend Katharina, whom he secretly still loves[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49).
Then a second surprise arrives: the eight-year-old Magdalena appears at Henry's door with a letter from her mother Charlotte, who is traveling to the United States and asks Henry to look after the girl for several weeks[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) • [7](https://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Schweiger-kokowaewaeh.htm). Magdalena is, according to the letter, his daughter from a long-forgotten one-night stand[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49). Henry, who had no idea the encounter had consequences, is completely out of his depth, and the quick-witted Magdalena turns his easygoing bachelor life upside down[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49).
A further complication is Tristan (Samuel Finzi), the man who until recently believed himself to be Magdalena's father[6](https://www.fernsehserien.de/filme/kokowaeaeh). Henry tries to keep Katharina from learning about a child conceived during the period when he and Katharina were a couple, and has to invent excuses again and again[6](https://www.fernsehserien.de/filme/kokowaeaeh). Over the course of the film Henry develops into a responsible father[2](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/kokowaeaeh).
### Sequel
A sequel, *[Kokowääh 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/kokowaah-2)*, followed in 2013, again with Til and Emma Schweiger[13](https://www.rezension.org/kokowaah/). Together with *Keinohrhasen* (2007) and *Zweiohrküken* (2009) and their sequels, the film belongs to the string of Schweiger romantic comedies that academic and industry analyses identify as a reliable source of high German box-office returns in the 2000s and early 2010s[14](https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/2466/3/Revised_NC%2012.1%262_2_art_Eicken.pdf).
## Production
The film was shot from 20 July to 17 September 2010 in Berlin and Potsdam[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49). It was produced by Barefoot Films GmbH (Berlin) in co-production with Béla Jarzyk Production GmbH and Warner Bros. Filmproduktion GmbH (Hamburg), in association with Sat.1, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Germany[8](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/kokowaah_8c026a23e81f4934e040007f0100684d). Funding came from the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-[Brandenburg](https://www.edgepedia.org/brandenburg), and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF)[8](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/kokowaah_8c026a23e81f4934e040007f0100684d).
Schweiger filled several roles at once: lead actor, director, co-writer, and producer[6](https://www.fernsehserien.de/filme/kokowaeaeh). Christof Wahl was the cinematographer and Constantin von Seld the editor[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49). The film was shot on 35 mm in color with Dolby sound; filmportal.de lists the original print at 3,459 meters and 123 minutes, while the German Film and Media Rating body (FBW) and several trade listings give a running time of 126 minutes[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) • [2](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/kokowaeaeh).
## The title
The title is a phonetic spelling of the French poultry classic coq au vin, chicken braised in wine, which is the only dish Henry can cook[3](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/film/2011-01/film-kokowaeaeh) • [9](https://www.programmkino.de/filmkritiken/kokowaeaeh/). According to *Die Zeit*, the unorthodox spelling comes from a scene in the film in which the eight-year-old Magdalena scores points in a Scrabble game by writing phonetically[3](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/film/2011-01/film-kokowaeaeh). The trade publication Programmkino attributes the coinage to the Warner Germany executive Willi Geike, and notes that odd invented titles have long been a tradition in Schweiger's films, following *Keinohrhasen* ("no ear hares") and *[Zweiohrküken](https://www.edgepedia.org/zweiohrkuken)* ("two-ear chicks")[9](https://www.programmkino.de/filmkritiken/kokowaeaeh/).
## Reception and box office
The film opened in German cinemas on 3 February 2011[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49). It drew more than four million admissions in Germany in 2011, making it one of the most successful German productions of the year; the FFA's annual report counts it among the two most-attended German films of the 2011 cinema year, with 4.3 million admissions[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49) • [10](https://www.ffa.de/files/dokumentenverwaltung/publikationen%20presse%20%28bearbeitet%20HS%29/2011/GB_FFA_2011.pdf). [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records a worldwide gross of $50,448,784, with $42,932,362 from Germany, $3,438,786 from Austria, and $3,050,540 from Switzerland[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1700258/).
**Critical response.** The German Film and Media Rating body (FBW) awarded the film its *Prädikat wertvoll* ("valuable") rating. Its jury praised the interplay between Til Schweiger and his daughter Emma, calling her the film's great discovery, and noted the self-ironic jokes at the expense of the film industry that the screenwriter setting allows[2](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/kokowaeaeh). Reviewers also highlighted Samuel Finzi's performance as Tristan; the portal cinema.de described the growing friendship between the two fathers as the film's emotional core, with the love story serving mainly as a supplement[11](https://www.cinema.de/film/kokowaeaeh%2C4406000.html). The Filmdienst review was more reserved, criticizing the implausible characterization of the child, the lack of originality in the love story, and weak gags[12](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/536857/kokowaah).
The film received the Bogey Award in Gold for three million admissions within 30 days and won the Deutscher Comedypreis 2011 as the most successful German film comedy[13](https://www.rezension.org/kokowaah/). At the Jupiter Awards 2012, Schweiger won Best Actor National[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49).
## References
1. [Kokowääh, filmportal.de](https://www.filmportal.de/film/kokowaeaeh_227dcfa271d340d58f435ce26dccec49)
2. [Kokowääh, Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW)](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/kokowaeaeh)
3. [Film "Kokowääh": Kino wie Nachtisch, Die Zeit](https://www.zeit.de/kultur/film/2011-01/film-kokowaeaeh)
4. [Kokowääh, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/195406)
5. [Kokowääh (2011), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1700258/)
6. [Kokowääh, fernsehserien.de](https://www.fernsehserien.de/filme/kokowaeaeh)
7. [Kokowääh, Dieter Wunderlich: Buchtipps und mehr](https://www.dieterwunderlich.de/Schweiger-kokowaewaeh.htm)
8. [Kokowääh, filmportal.de (English version)](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/kokowaah_8c026a23e81f4934e040007f0100684d)
9. [Kokowääh, Programmkino](https://www.programmkino.de/filmkritiken/kokowaeaeh/)
10. [Filmförderungsanstalt, Annual Report 2011](https://www.ffa.de/files/dokumentenverwaltung/publikationen%20presse%20%28bearbeitet%20HS%29/2011/GB_FFA_2011.pdf)
11. [Kokowääh (2011), cinema.de](https://www.cinema.de/film/kokowaeaeh%2C4406000.html)
12. [Kokowääh, Filmdienst](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/536857/kokowaah)
13. [Kokowääh (2011), rezension.org](https://www.rezension.org/kokowaah/)
14. [Cinema of consensus, Falmouth University repository](https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/2466/3/Revised_NC%2012.1%262_2_art_Eicken.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2011 to 2012 › Released in 2011*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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