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The Zone of Interest Wins Oscar for Best International fFilm

2024-03-10 00:00:00

The harrowing Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest, which explores questions of complicity while depicting the mundane lives of a Nazi family in their home adjacent to the Auschwitz death camp, won Academy Awards for best international film.

"Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst," writer-director Jonathan Glazer said. "Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this humanization, how do we resist?"

The film also took home the Oscar for best sound.

Sandra Hüller, one of the film`s stars, nominated for best actress for Anatomy of a Fall, plays Hedwig, the wife of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), the bloodthirsty commandant of Auschwitz. The film was the United Kingdom`s submission to the Oscars.

Glazer adapted the screenplay loosely from the 2014 Martin Amis novel of the same name, but chose to depict the real-life commandant. Aiming for a chilling meticulousness, the director pieced together the Höss family history and built the set for their home some 200 yards (183 meters) from where the real one once stood.

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best director, sound and adapted screenplay, which went to Cord Jefferson for American Fiction.

Also nominated for best international feature were Society of the Snow (Spain), The Teachers` Lounge (Germany), Io Capitano (Italy) and Perfect Days (Japan).

Anatomy of a Fall picked up the Best Original Screenplay statuette, for both Triet’s and co-writer Arthur Harari’s work. As a reminder, the picture was out of the Best International Film category after having been withdrawn by France as its submission.

As for the English-language films, the two leading winners were the two most-nominated films, both European co-productions. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer went on to win seven awards, including Best Picture and Director, as well as Best Actor for Ireland’s Cillian Murphy, Best Cinematography for Dutch-Swedish DoP Hoyte van Hoytema and Best Original Score for Swedish artist Ludwig Göransson. The other big winner of the night, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, ended up taking home four awards: Best Actress for Emma Stone, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Costume Design.

Furthermore, as expected, the Best Documentary category saw a win for the Ukrainian doc 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov. While accepting the award, the filmmaker and journalist reminded the audience that this was the first Oscar in Ukrainian history.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Picture
Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan (USA/UK)

Best Director
Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer

Best Actress
Emma Stone - Poor Things (Ireland/USA/UK)

Best Actor
Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey, Jr – Oppenheimer

Best Supporting Actress
Da’Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers

Best International Feature Film
The Zone of Interest - Jonathan Glazer (UK/Poland/USA)

Best Documentary Feature
20 Days in Mariupol - Mstyslav Chernov (Ukraine)

Best Animated Feature
The Boy and the Heron - Hayao Miyazaki (Japan)

Best Original Screenplay
Arthur Harari, Justine Triet - Anatomy of a Fall (France)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Cord Jefferson - American Fiction