Oscars 2016: Germany submits 'Labyrinth Of Lies'

Labyrinth Of Lies (Im Labyrinth Des Schweigens) has been selected to represent Germany as the official submission for the 88th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign-Language Film.

The drama marks the feature directorial debut of German actor Giulio Ricciarelli and tells the story of the conspiracy of prominent German institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during the Second World War.

Labyrinth Of Lies, which will be released in the US by Sony Pictures Classics next month, was chosen from eight features by a nine-strong independent jury appointed by German Films.

Jury representative Dagmar Hirtz announced the decision in Munich today.

Ricciarell saidi: “I have had so many excellent experiences with this film abroad already. As in Germany, viewers are touched and moved, and often begin to think about their own history.

“Such an international response to this theme was very important to us. The jury’s decision represents a great opportunity and pleasure for us.”

Search for truth

The film tells the story of the young public prosecutor Johann Radmann, who embarked on a search for the truth behind the events of Auschwitz at the end of the 1950s, and so paved the way against all political and social opposition for the first Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt.

Alexander Fehling stars in the leading role and received the Bavarian Film Award for Best Actor earlier this year.

Labyrinth Of Lies is produced by Claussen+Wöbke+Putz Filmproduktion in co-production with naked eye filmproduction.

It was financed by HessenInvestFilm, the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF), the German Federal Film Board (FFA) and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).

The film received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and was subsequently shown at film festivals including in Zurich, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

It won the Audience Award and a Special Mention from the jury at the Les Arcs European Film Festival in Dec 2014.

Global sales

Beta Cinema has sold the drama to 118 countries to date and it has been released in Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Israel.

In France, it has been one of the most successful German feature films of recent years, recording admissions of just under 350,000. Sony Pictures Classics is planning a US release on Sept 30. 

In Germany, Labyrinth Of Lies was released on Nov 6 2014 by Universal Pictures International Germany where it notched up 250,000 admissions.

The announcement of the five foreign-language films nominated for the Oscar is made on Jan 14, 2016.

The 88^th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 28, 2016.