26/02/2008

The Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was awarded on Sunday evening to The Counterfeiter [+see also:
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This adaptation of Adolf Burger’s memoirs (The Devil’s Workshop) – which tells the story of how Jewish prisoners were forced by the Nazis to counterfeit British and US coins in order to ruin their economies – is, according to the director, first and foremost an exploration of "Austrian identity" in relation to this moment in history.

When receiving his award, the filmmaker also mentioned the fact that eminent Austrian directors Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann and Otto Preminger were forced to leave because of the Nazis and said he was glad that the first Austrian film to win an Oscar dealt precisely with this subject.

The significance of this victory for the country doesn’t end there. Ruzowitzky hopes that it will encourage "Austrian directors to strengthen and enrich our cinema, to exercise more influence over the government so that it gives more support to the film industry".

The Oscar triumph had an immediate effect. The day after the ceremony, Minister of Culture Claudia Schmied invited the director to hold a discussion with her about the future of German-language cinema. She said: "It’s not enough to feel proud. We also have to strike the right balance for European films. We have to support projects across Europe and strengthen the artistic potential of European directors".

Indeed, The Counterfeiter is a co-production of equal participation with Germany. Indeed, it was Hamburg-based producers Nina Bohlmann and Babette Schröder (of Magnolia Filmproduktion) who contacted Ruzowitzky about the film. The director then secured the co-production support of Viennese company Aichinger Filmproduktion.

(Translated from French)