Movies

Oscar-nominated Holocaust film ‘Zone of Interest’ will screen at Auschwitz

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Published Feb. 15, 2024, 12:13 p.m. ET

“The Zone of Interest,” the acclaimed Holocaust drama that’s up for Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars, will have its Polish premiere on Thursday at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.

According to Variety, director Jonathan Glazer will introduce the harrowing film at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where parts of the movie were shot. 

“Zone” is about Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), the Nazi officer and commandant of Auschwitz during World War II, and juxtaposes his home life with wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and their five children to the horrors of the Holocaust happening right next door.

Sandra Hüller in "The Zone of Interest."
Sandra Hüller plays Hedwig Höss in the Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest.” AP

“To acknowledge the couple as human beings was a big part of the awfulness of this entire journey of the film, but I kept thinking that, if we could do so, we would maybe see ourselves in them,” Glazer, 58, told the Guardian. 

“For me, this is not a film about the past. It’s trying to be about now, and about us and our similarity to the perpetrators, not our similarity to the victims.”

After the screening, Glazer will chat with the museum director Piotr Cywiński, production designer Chris Oddy and producers.

The film is nominated for five Academy Awards: Picture, director, adapted screenplay, sound and international feature film, which it’s favored to win.

Sandra Hüller, a German actress, is competing for best actress, but for her leading role in the French drama “Anatomy of a Fall.”

Last month, “Roma” director Alfonso Cuaron called “The Zone of Interest” “probably the most important film of this century, both from the standpoint of his cinematic approach and the complexity of its theme.” 

Christian Friedel, Jonathan Glazer and Sandra Huller.
Director Jonathan Glazer (center) said, “For me, this is not a film about the past. It’s trying to be about now.” AFP via Getty Images

“Zone” won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival last spring, and was named film of the year by the London Critics Circle. 

And globally, the film, which is distributed by A24, has grossed $11 million at the box office so far. “The Zone of Interest” is in theaters, but not yet available on streaming services.