Hitler Film Wins Oscar Nomination

A controversial German film about the final days of Adolf Hitler's life has been nominated for an Oscar as one of five foreign language films. "Downfall" (Der Untergang) was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and stars Swiss actor Bruno Ganz as Hitler. On its release, some German critics lambasted the film for overly humanizing the Nazi dictator. "My film is very controversial," Hirschbiegel said, after admitting he was surprised by the nomination. "Are we as filmmakers allowed to depict Hitler as a man or are we supposed to depict him as a monster? We owe it to the victims to show that this was not a demon from hell but a man born in Austria and raised in Germany. I am very proud of this movie. It is my best work." Also nominated for best foreign film were "All it is in Heaven" from Sweden, "The Chorus" from France, Spain's "The Sea Inside," and "Yesterday," the first film ever nominated from South Africa.