Austrian Film Up For Oscar

Viennese director Stefan Ruzowitzky has made it to the short-list for the 2008 Academy Awards. His movie Die Falscher (The Counterfeiters) is one of five nominated pictures for the coveted Best Foreign Language Film award.

This year saw an unparalleled number of films put forward in the foreign category. 67 movies were in the running, cut to a preliminary list of nine last week. With the nominations now whittled down to five, the winner is anyone's guess.

Mr. Ruzowitzky's film explores the true story of a Nazi plot to destabilise Britain's currency during World War II. Skilled Jewish inmates of the Sachsenhausen camp were employed in the plot - the film was directly inspired by the memoir of surviving counterfeiter Adolf Burger.

Die Falscher met with very positive reviews in the International press, but it is up against some stiff competition. Russian entry 12 has considerable momentum behind it, likewise Israeli film Beaufort. Meanwhile, veteran Polish director Andrzej Wajda has stunned his critics with a grueling portrayal of the Katyn Massacre, based on the Soviet Secret Police's murder of thousands of Polish officers during World War II. His film, called simply Katyn, is his fourth to be nominated for the foreign language award. He won an honorary oscar in 2000, which may influence the Academy's final decision.

The winners of the 80th Academy Awards will be announced on Sunday, 24th February.