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OSCARS 2016 Austria

Austria chooses Goodnight Mommy for the Oscars

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- The country is pinning its hopes on the elegance and extreme violence of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala's film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign-language Film

Austria chooses Goodnight Mommy for the Oscars
Goodnight Mommy by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala

Comprising the FAMA (Fachverband der Film- und Musikindustrie), the jury tasked with selecting the Austrian candidate for the upcoming Oscars has made the bold decision to submit not only a feature debut (admittedly an impeccable one), but also a movie that does not simply settle for flirting with genre film but totally glues the viewer to their seat: Goodnight Mommy [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Severin Fiala and Veronika …
film profile
]
by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.

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This film, produced by director Ulrich Seidl, started off its run by petrifying audiences in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival before ripping out the entrails of festival-goers all around the world, ranging from non-specialised gatherings (Buenos Aires, Angers, Ljubljana, Thessaloniki and Stockholm) to events dedicated to genre films (Sitges, Gerardmer and Fantaspoa).

With its faultless aesthetics, the intelligence and mastery of its mise-en-scène, its subtly repulsive atmosphere and its way of suddenly veering into genre-film territory, causing the viewer to pull all manner of horrified grimaces while clinging tightly to his chair, Goodnight Mommy is both an obvious and a risky choice. It is true that Austria has been on a roll for the last few years at the Academy Awards, in the Best Foreign-language Film category: The Counterfeiters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Stefan Ruzowitzky and Amour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile
]
by Michael Haneke took home the prestigious statuette from Hollywood in 2007 and 2012, while Revanche [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Götz Spielmann
film profile
]
by Götz Spielmann was nominated in 2008.

We will not know until mid-January whether Franz and Fiala's film will be among the five nominees. The Oscars ceremony will take place on 28 February.

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(Translated from French)

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