takes an empathetic look at the relationship between two prisoners in a German jail: convicted murderer Viktor , and a gay man, Hans , imprisoned repeatedly over three decades under the country’s homophobic Paragraph 175 statute. The film is Austria’s entry in the International Feature Film category of the Oscars, and is one of 15 films to be shortlisted.It’s incredibly exciting, and personally, I wasn’t expecting it at all.
When trying to get consumer audiences to watch an international feature, there seems to be a focus on the length of a movie, but when something like “Avengers: Endgame” gets a three-hour runtime, Marvel fans are ecstatic and say they could go longer if they wanted to. Is that fair? By delving deeper into films that are made far away from us. Historically, the U.S. and Europe are closely linked. Of course, there are also many overlapping points in filmmaking. Although American and European cinema have grown in parallel, they have always influenced each other. Asian cinema, for example, has only gained in importance in the last 20 years, both in Europe and in the U.S. Films from Korea, Thailand or Japan are increasingly affecting our cinematic consciousness.
I don’t feel like I’m representing an entire nation. I made a film that was entered into the Oscar race by Austria. Only one film can be chosen and it was ours. I’m very happy about that and of course it’s a great honor. But in the end, any other Austrian film could have been selected, because, as we all know, there are no categories of good and bad in art. In this respect, our film does not represent the whole of Austrian filmmaking. Because that is very diverse.
Members have to opt in to vote for nominees for international feature. On the Academy Streaming Room, they separate those films, and there is no charge for placing them on the platform. However, for $12,500, a film will be placed on the best picture section, adding an increased chance of viewing, which benefits financially lucrative movie studios. Not every filmmaker or country has the means to pay that fee.