©Reuters. Jonathan Glazer poses on the red carpet during Oscars arrivals at the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
LOS ANGELES, March 10 (Reuters) – The British film “The Zone of Interest”, about the story of the family of a German officer who lived next to the Auschwitz death camp during World War II, won the Oscar on Sunday for best international feature film.
The film centers on Commander Rudolf Hoss and his family as they build a life near the Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland, where more than 1.1 million people were killed in the largest of the concentration camps and extermination built by the Nazis.
Director Jonathan Glazer, who previously made “Sexy Beast” and “Under the Skin,” said he wanted to show all the people’s capacity for violence in the film, which was shot entirely in Auschwitz.
“We think we could never behave this way and we don’t behave this way, but I think we should be less sure about this,” Glazer said.
The film, based on a novel by the late Martin Amis, relies on sound, rather than on-screen violence, to convey the horror of the death camp, contrasted with the family’s seemingly ordinary life.
“The Zone of Interest,” which also won the Grand Prix at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, is also nominated for an Oscar for best film and best director.
Other nominees in the category were “Perfect Days” from Japan, “Society of the Snow” from Spain, “The Teacher’s Lounge” from Germany and “Io Capitano” from Italy.