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Germany Nominates Film on RAF Terrorists for Oscar

DPA news agency (sms)September 16, 2008

Germany has nominated a true-life film about the 1970s Baader-Meinhof terrorist gang for an Oscar as 2008's best foreign movie, its film export board said Tuesday, just hours before the premiere of the movie in Munich.

https://p.dw.com/p/FJM3
Police examine a wrecked car in which Alfred Herrhausenwas killed in Red Army Faction terrorist attack
A new film on the RAF explains the terrorists' plans without glorifying them, judges saidImage: AP Graphics/DW

Launched under the German title "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex," the movie describes the rise and fall of a group of urban terrorists who conducted bank robberies, kidnappings and assassinations while dreaming of a communist revolution in West Germany.

A scene from the movie with Schleyer being pulled out a car trunk
The new movie stars Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu and Bruno GanzImage: picture-alliance/ dpa

The initial nomination for the February 2009 Oscars was made by a panel of judges appointed by the German Films board. About 100 countries are expected to make similar nominations.

A short list of five foreign films from round the world will be selected as final nominees by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in January, with the winner to be announced Feb. 22, 2009.

The movie, directed by Uli Edel, goes on general release in Germany on Sept. 25. Reviews have not been published yet.

Interest in the terrorists, who called their group the Red Army Faction, remains high in Germany. The German film judges said the movie "gave a picture of the early 1970s without glorifying the terrorists."

The production company, Constantin Film of Munich, said foreign sales of the film to "the most important regions" had already been concluded through the Los Angeles company Summit Entertainment.

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Tuesday night saw the world premiere of a much-anticipated movie about the German terrorist organisation: the Red Army Faction.. known in the English-speaking world as the Baader-Meinhof group. The leftists gang struck fear into the heart of the German establishment in the 1970s.. with a campaign of assassinations and bombings that left 34 people dead. Despite their tactics, some Germans sympathised with their ultimate goal of creating a more just society. The new film is called "The Baader-Meinhof Complex".. and is based on a book by a journalist who personally knew and worked with some of its members.
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