"Barbara" to represent Germany at Academy Awards

Christian Petzold’s feature film BARBARA will, as the official German entry, join the submissions for the 85th Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film. This was decided today by an independent jury in Berlin, which was appointed by German Films to preside over the selection process.

The nine-person independent jury, under the chairmanship of Stefan Schubert, substantiated their decision as follows: “The film BARBARA is convincing in its great formal clarity and strong female figure, who, torn between the contradiction of individual freedom and social responsibility, has to make a personal decision.”

Director Christian Petzold and the film’s producers Florian Koerner von Gustorf and Michael Weber were elated by the jury’s decision: “We are very pleased about the jury’s selection of our film as the German submission for the Oscar®. After the Berlinale and successful releases in Germany and France, this honor comes at a perfect moment for the upcoming releases of BARBARA in the USA, Great Britain, Spain and Italy.” ((and let the blogger add: its TIFF selection and upcoming Canadian run))

The film was released in German cinemas in March 2012 and has since pulled in over 350,000 admissions. At the Berlinale 2012, Christian Petzold was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Direction for BARBARA; the film also received the Silver Lola at the German Film Awards in the category Best Film.


On 15 January 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) will announce which five films have been nominated from all of the international entries to go forward in the final lineup to compete for the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film. The official Academy Awards® ceremony will take place on 24 February 2013.