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Munich, 26 February. The Lives of Others (“Das Leben der Anderen") by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has received the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film. Donnersmarck completed his sweep of major honours, adding the Oscar to his previous wins of three European Film Awards, seven German Film Awards (Lola) and a Golden Globe Nomination. In the first two weeks after its release, The Lives of Others (Sony Pictures Classics) raised an US box office of 750,000 $, which has been the best result for any German movie in the US so far.
In his acceptance speech, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck says on Sunday night at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles: "I thank you Academy members from the bottom of my heart for this honor. And I thank Michael and Tom from Sony Classics for choosing The Lives of Others and bringing it to you. I thank Germany and Bavaria for making this film possible. My great department heads for making this film with me. Schwarzenegger for teaching me that the words "I can't" should be stricken from my vocabulary. And my entire crew. I thank my producers, commissioning editors, distributors, financiers. I thank my brother Sebastian for helping with this script and for Erna Baumbauer for believing in me. But most of all I thank my actors, especially Ulrich and Sebastian, you're the greatest artists and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Finally, my wife Christiane. No, I have to say that one more thing. Just that one more thing: Christiane, I love you.“
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