TONI ERDMANN REPRESENTS GERMANY IN OSCAR® RACE 2017
TONI ERDMANN by Maren Ade will represent Germany as the official submission for the 89th Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film. This was decided by an independent jury appointed by German Films. Jury representative Felicitas Darschin (Bundesverband Regie) announced the decision on 25 August 2016 at a press presentation in Munich in the presence of producers Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach and actor Thomas Loibl.
The nine-person jury substantiated its decision as follows: “TONI ERDMANN stood out among the eight submitted films with its resolute artistic signature. A bold and stylistically confident cinematic display of character on the pulse of the times. Maren Ade manages to turn 162 minutes of film into a humorous, unmasking stroll through the nuances of a father-daughter relationship. Universal topics like social isolation and the challenge of interpersonal integrity are skillfully dissected. Touching, evocative, implementing societal questions, and an unswerving artistic clarity. Just as modern international cinema should be.”
Director Maren Ade commented on the jury’s decision: “I am very happy that the jury is sending TONI ERDMANN into the Oscar® race and am anxious to see how Toni behaves in Los Angeles.”
And producers Janine Jackowski & Jonas Dornbach: “We are very honored! The film has already had an incredible journey and this milestone is very special. Internationally, this is a great sign and we hope that TONI ERDMANN will experience even more adventures in the future! With Sony Pictures Classics we have the best partner on our side.”
TONI ERDMANN is a production by Komplizen Film, in co-production with the Austrian coop 99 Filmproduktion, knm (Monaco) and Missing Link Films. The production was funded by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Eurimages, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM, the Austrian Film Institute, Film Industry Support Austria (FISA), Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF) and MEDIA.