The nomination of the film „The Counterfeiters“ as Austrian candidate for the foreign language Oscar has also delighted co-producer Studio Babelsberg.
„We congratulate director Stefan Ruzowitzky and the production company magnolia, the filmproduction Hamburg as well as Aichholz film in Vienna and are keeping our fingers crossed“, complimented deputy chairman Christoph Fisser.
„With this, another Made in Babelsberg film has an excellent opportunity of receiving the most sought-after film award internationally. This recogni-tion is another reason for us to put all our efforts into a continued commitment to German and European films.“
Studio Babelsber deputy chairman Christoph Fisser
The shooting for the film „The Counterfeiters“ took place in Spring 2006 in Babelsberg, Monte Carlo and Vienna.
Stefan Ruzowitzky wrote the screenplay according to the memories of the contemporary witness Adolf Burger. It tells the story of the explosive
counterfeiting operation in the Nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen during the last few months of the Second World War.
In a world of crooks, gigolos und easy women, Salomon Sorowitsch, played by Karl Markovics, is a whiz at producing fake currency: Life is one big game – and the money required for playing it is printed by Sorowitsch himself. Thanks to his pragmatic nature and unfailing creativity he enjoys the sunny-side of life – until he is arrested and transferred to the Nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen in 1944.
There he is promoted to the key member of a large-scale counterfeiting operation, as the Nazis want to weaken the British economy and need foreign currency for it. Sorowitsch makes a pact with the devil and does what is asked of him....
