13 German films shortlisted for the Oscars
Which German film is in the running for the Oscar? A jury is advising over the submission this weekend. There are 13 applicants in total, including "Two to One" by Nadja Brunckhorst, Matthias Glasner's "Dying", and "In Love, Yours, Hilde" by Andreas Dresen.
13 films are in the preliminary selection for the German Oscar submission. Among them is the new film by Iranian Mohammed Rassulof, who fled to Germany a few months ago. "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" is a German co-production and tells the story of the impact of political protests in Iran on a family.
A film with Sandra Hüller has also been submitted: "Two to One" by Natja Brunckhorst. Which work Germany will submit as a candidate for the best international film will be decided by a jury on August 21 and 22 in Munich. This was announced by German Films, the international representative of German cinema.
Announcement of the nominees in January
This is just one of several preliminary stages before the films that will actually be nominated for the best international film Oscar are announced on January 17.
Among the possible German candidates are the drama "Dying" by Matthias Glasner, which has already won the German Film Award in gold, "The Investigation" by RP Kahl, "In Love, Yours, Hilde" by Andreas Dresen, and "In the Blind Spot" by Ayşe Polat.
Other applicants for the German candidate are "The Glory of Life" (Georg Maas, Judith Kaufmann), "The Indomitable 2 - Guten Morgen, you Beautiful" (Torsten Körner), "Leaders and Seducers" (Joachim A. Lang), "Hollywoodgate" (Ibrahim Nash'at), "Sad Jokes" (Fabian Stumm), "Stella. A Life" (Kilian Riedhof) and "Silence" (Erik Borner).
At this year's Oscar ceremony, the German contribution "The Teacher's Lounge" by Ilker Çatak was not nominated for best international film. The British production "The Zone of Interest" by Jonathan Glazer won the Oscar in this category.
Four Oscars for German contributions so far
Last year, however, the German literary adaptation "All Quiet on the Western Front" by director Edward Berger not only won the Oscar for best international film, but also three more for cinematography, production design, and film music.
The choice of the German contribution is a preliminary stage in the race for the foreign Oscar. On December 17, the shortlist of international applicants will be announced. From this shortlist, the nominated films will be selected. The Oscar ceremony will take place on March 2 (local time, MEZ in the night of March 3).
So far, only four German productions have won the prize for best international film. Apart from "All Quiet on the Western Front", this was achieved in 2007 by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck with the Stasi drama "The Lives of Others". In 1980, the film adaptation of "The Tin Drum" by Volker Schlöndorff received this award, and in 2003 "Nowhere in Africa" by Caroline Link.
The jury will consider 15 films in total for the German Oscar submission, with "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" being one of the non-German productions in the mix. Besides these, other applicants for the German candidate include films like "The Glory of Life" and "Hollydaygate".
Additionally, the category of best international film features various other entries, with "Other" countries submitting their own unique films for consideration due to the diverse and global nature of cinematography.
