Dominik Graf’s feature film BELOVED SISTERS will represent Germany as the official submission for the 87th Academy Awards® for Best Foreign Language Film. This was decided by an independent jury in Munich, which was appointed by German Films to preside over the selection process.
The nine-person jury, under the chairmanship of Peter Herrmann, substantiated its decision as follows: “BELOVED SISTERS is a modernly told ménage-à-trois that takes us back to the 18th century with a certain lightness. Dominik Graf directed, with his own personal signature and great sensitivity, the story of a moving love affair. The film convinces with the direction of the actors, the images suffused with light, and its very clever and unconventional composition.”
Producer Uschi Reich: “This designation is for me the greatest joy and the confirmation of my work. What great luck for us all! Many thanks to the jury!”
BELOVED SISTERS tells the true but little known story of a ménage-à-trois between Friedrich Schiller and the von Lengefeld sisters, a utopia on the eve of the French Revolution. German actors Florian Stetter, Hannah Herzsprung and Henriette Confurius can be seen in the leading roles.
BELOVED SISTERS was produced by Bavaria Filmverleih und Produktions GmbH, in co-production with WEGA Filmproduktionsgesellschaft (Austria), WS Filmproduktion Dr. Wolfgang Stürzl, KIDDNIX Filmproduction, Senator Film Produktion, WDR, BR, Degeto, ARTE and ORF. The production was funded by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, the German Federal Film Board (FFA), the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Cine Tirol, and Filmlocation Austria (FISA).
The film was released in German cinemas on 31 July 2014 by Senator Film Verleih.
BELOVED SISTERS celebrated its world premiere in competition at the Berlinale 2014 and was then screened at numerous other international film festivals, including Copenhagen, Shanghai, Edinburgh and Moscow, and was invited to the New York Film Festival for its North American premiere.
World sales agent Global Screen has sold the rights to the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland and Croatia thus far. Further territories are still in the negotiation process. The US distributor Music Box Films is planning a December 2014 US release.
On 15 January 2015, 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 line-up to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The official Academy Awards® ceremony will take place on 22 February 2015 in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
German Films is responsible for the preparation, organization and implementation of the selection procedure for the German candidate film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In this function, German Films’ responsibilities are strictly of organizational nature. German Films itself is not represented in the selection committee.
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