The Studio Babelsberg’s production The Reader was nominated for the Academy Awards in five most coveted categories: Best Motion Picture, Best Directing (Stephen Daldry), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Kate Winslet), Best Cinematography (Chris Menges, Roger Deakins) and Best Adapted Screenplay (David Hare). The 81st Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles on February 22, 2009.
The nominations are an excellent acknowledgement for the Studio Babelsberg crew. It is a proof that not only becomes the film location Germany increasingly interesting to Hollywood but that German themes are succeeding internationally.
Dr. Carl Woebcken
CEO of Studio Babelsberg AG
Dr. Carl Woebcken, CEO of Studio Babelsberg AG and co-producer of The Reader: "We are extremely happy. The nominations are an excellent acknowledgement for the Studio Babelsberg crew. It is a proof that not only becomes the film location Germany increasingly interesting to Hollywood but that German themes are succeeding internationally. Together with all federal funding and subsidy institutions, we provided a creative environment, in which this wonderful movie could be produced.”
Kate Winslet received Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award, The Reader is nominated for five British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA): for Best Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Furthermore, the American Society of Cinematographers nominated Roger Deakins (Camera) for Outstanding Achievement Award. The Reader will premiere in Germany in February during the 59th International Film Festival of Berlin.
The film was produced by a studio subsidiary Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH and was shot on location in Berlin, Babelsberg, Görlitz, Cologne, and New York. The Reader was directed by Steven Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours). Academy Award winner Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack (Mirage Enterprises), both men recently deceased, served as producers together with Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris. Bob and Harvey Weinstein oversaw the production as Executive Producers. The executives of Studio Babelsberg AG Dr. Carl Woebcken and Christoph Fisser and the Managing Director of Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures Henning Molfenter are co-producers of the film. The leading roles are played by the brilliant Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes as well as the up-and-coming German actor David Kross, who will also receive the European SHOOTING STAR award at the Berlinale Film Festival. Studio Babelsberg will present the SHOOTING STARS Awards for the first time in 2009.
