"The Edukators" premiered on 17 May at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a 10-minute standing ovation. There it was nominated for the Palme d'Or, marking the first time a German film entered in the competition since 1993, when Wim Wenders' "Faraway, So Close!" did it. Cinematographers Daniela Knapp and Matthias Schellenberg were nominated for the 2004 Camerimage. The film won the Silver Giraldillo (second place) at the 2004 Seville European Film Festival, and that year Brühl was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actor. Of the German Cinema New Talent Awards at the 2004 Munich Film Festival, Weingartner was Best Director, Erceg Best Actor, and writers Weingartner and Held received a jury award.