28/08/2015 - Giulio Ricciarelli’s film will represent Germany for the nominations for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film

A nine-member jury assembled in Munich has selected the German candidate for the nominations for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film: the movie in question is Labyrinth of Lies [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Giulio Ricciarelli
interview: Giulio Ricciarelli
film profile] by Giulio Ricciarelli, produced by Claussen + Wöbke + Putz and naked eye filmproduction.

Also featuring among the eight titles that had hoped to be granted the privilege of representing the country at the 88th edition of the Oscars was the superb Victoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Schipper
film profile] by Sebastian Schipper, a 140-minute sequence-shot that made a huge splash at the Berlinale before going on to be victorious at the Lola Awards for German cinema; 13 Minutes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Oliver Hirschbiegel; Head Full of Honey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by and starring the immensely popular Til Schweiger, who produces a national box-office smash virtually every year; Jack [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Edward Berger; and We Are Young, We Are Strong [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Burhan Qurbani.

Labyrinth of Lies tells the story of Johann Radmann (played by Alexander Fehling, who snagged this year’s Bavarian Film Award for Best Actor for this very role), the young prosecutor who, in the late 1950s, paved the way for the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, which dealt with the crimes committed at the concentration camp. The German Oscar selection committee found the film both "gripping and touching". In addition to the fact that it revisits a lesser-known chapter of German history, the jury also appreciated the "intense" performance given by Fehling. 

The producers and the director said they were delighted that the movie will have such a great opportunity to reach international audiences on an even larger scale. Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, which will be releasing the title on US screens on 30 September, stressed: "People are fascinated to discover this true story that they had never heard about before (...), which conveys a fundamental message while remaining entertaining."

Ricciarelli’s film has already been popular at Toronto, Zurich, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Les Arcs, where it received a Special Mention and the Audience Award. German international sales agent Beta Cinema has sold it to 118 countries, and it has already been very well received in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Israel and especially in France (having taken almost 350,000 admissions). In Germany, Labyrinth of Lies has so far racked up 250,000 ticket sales. 

The Oscar nominees will be announced on 14 January, and the awards ceremony itself will take place on 28 February. 

(Translated from French)