Austria Selects Sandra Hüller Drama ‘Rose’ For International Oscar Category

Austria has selected Berlin Film Festival winner Rose, which stars Sandra Hüller, as its International Oscar hopeful. Markus Schleinzer’s black-and-white period critical hit had its world premiere in competition at the Berlinale and won Hüller the festival’s Silver Bear for best leading performance. The film, which is a live contender in the category, was previously picked up by Mubi for all rights in North America, UK, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest actress Hüller, more recently on screens opposite Ryan Gosling in box office hit Project Hail Mary, plays a mysterious soldier who appears in a secluded Protestant village amidst the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War. Watch on Deadline The synopsis continues: “Small and quiet, his face disfigured by a scar, this stranger declares himself the heir of a long-abandoned farmstead and produces a document to support his claim to the suspicious villagers. With time, he overcomes their doubts and shows himself to be a hard-working, God-fearing man, becoming part of the community in a quest for acceptance made up of impossible deceit.” Deadline’s critic Damon Wise described the film as “a remarkable piece of work, one that cements [Hüller’s] reputation as a striking yet surprisingly chameleonic talent with Tilda Swinton’s eye for dark but intellectually rewarding material.” Hüller also starred in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cannes hopeful Fatherland, and has Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Warner Bros film Digger with Tom Cruise. Rose is an Austrian-German production from Schubert, Row Pictures and Walker + Worm Film, produced by Johannes Schubert, Philipp Worm, Tobias Walker and Karsten Stöter. Mubi has yet to set a release date. Mubi-owned The Match Factory handles sales and has already sold the film to a host of overseas markets. The film marks the third feature for Schleinzer. His previous films include his debut, Michael (2011), which premiered in Cannes competition, and Angelo (2018), which played in competition at San Sebastian and Toronto. Schleinzer spent the best part of two decades as one of Europe’s most celebrated casting directors, working with filmmakers including Jessica Hausner, Ulrich Seidl and Michael Haneke. For Haneke’s Golden Globe winner and Oscar-nominated film The White Ribbon, he was responsible not only for casting the child actors but also for directing their performances on set.