“Zone of interests” directed by Jonathan Glazer won in the best international film category. After receiving the statuette, the director thanked, among others, Museum in Auschwitz. He also referred to current conflicts around the world. “All our choices were intended to reflect and confront us with the present. Our film shows where dehumanization at its worst leads,” he said.
Glazer’s film beat out films such as “I, the Captain”, “Perfect Days”, “Teacher’s Lounge” and “The Brotherhood of Snow” in this category.
“The Zone of Interest” loosely refers to the famous war novel “The Zone of Interest” by Martin Amis from 2014, which describes the love between Rudolf Hösse and his wife Hedwig, with whom he had five children.
A film in which German actors played the main roles Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüllercritics called it “a terrifying look at the banality of evil” (Indiewire) and “terrifying and extremely necessary in modern times” (Vanity Fair).
“Glazer managed to make a film that breaks the numbness and reminds us that evil is never trivial. That evil has a face, that it can grow on any ground. It is an artistically sublime, conscious in every detail and well-constructed, but above all, piercing film. , which gradually pushes the viewer more and more firmly into the seat. And although this embrace of the image is uncomfortable, although it hurts, you want to endure it – until the end,” wrote Anna Tatarska about the film for Interia.
The production, which was shot in Oświęcim, was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. The director is British, Jonathan Glazer, the creator of the films “Sexy Beast” and “Under the Skin”, as well as music videos of the bands Radiohead and Massive Attack.
All photos for the film by Łukasz Żal – were carried out in Poland, most of them in Oświęcim, in close cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. Its creators conducted extensive, long-term historical research, also based on interviews conducted with the inhabitants of Oświęcim.
Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions), who previously had a hand in the successes of “Ida” and “Cold War”, is responsible for the production of the film on the Polish side. Other Polish artists involved in this project include: Joanna Kuś (set design), Waldemar Pokromski (make-up), Małgorzata Karpiuk (costumes) and Małgorzata Bereźnicka (production manager).