Georg Maas' Two Lives.
Georg Maas' feature Two Lives will represent Germany as its official submission for the 86th Oscars in the Best Foreign Language category. A nine-person jury, appointed by the country's film promotion group, German Films, selected the film which will be released in Germany September 19. It has screened at international festivals in Bergen, Göteborg, Palm Springs, Seattle and Shanghai.
Two Lives is based on the true story of German national Kathrine Evensen (played by Juliane Köhler), who lives happily in Norway with her family and mother (Liv Ullmann). After the fall of the Berlin Wall, she is suddenly confronted with her secret past with East German internal spy agency, the Stasi. She has built her entire life on a fake identity but slowly all the lies and deceit are unraveled and she stands to lose everything. To prevent the truth from being revealed, she returns to her previous life.
Dagmar Hirtz, chairman of the jury which made the selection said: “The film Two Lives convincingly portrays a strand of German history which is otherwise not very well known: the Norwegian Lebensborn Children.' The legacy of the Third Reich guiltily interlinks itself with the manipulation of the secret police of the GDR. The intensive interaction between Juliane Köhler and Liv Ullmann and the expressive cinematography are impressive.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will short list the number of films selected by countries around the world as their Oscar hopefuls in the Best Foreign Language category in late fall. Last year, a record 71 countries submitted in the Foreign-Language category. Michael Haneke's Amour won the Oscar in the category at the 85th Academy Awards. Nominations for the 86th Academy Awards will be unveiled January 16. The Oscar ceremony will take place March 2, 2014 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
