East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After all, the "operation" is backed by the highest political circles. What he didn't anticipate, however, was that submerging oneself into the world of the target also changes the surveillance agent. The immersion in the lives of others-in love, literature, free thinking and speech-makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life which he has ever more trouble resisting. But the system, once started, cannot be stopped. A dangerous game has begun.


Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Producer: Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann


Actors
Martina Gedeck > Christa-Maria Sieland
Ulrich Muehe > Capt Gerd Wiesler
Sebastian Koch > Georg Dreyman
Ulrich Tukur > Lt-Col Anton Grubitz
Thomas Thieme > Minister Bruno Hempf
Hans-Uwe Bauer > Paul Hauser
Herbert Knaup > Gregor Hessenstein
Volkmar Kleinert > Albert Jerski
Matthias Brenner > Karl Wallner
Charly Huebner > Udo




Production Companies
Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. KG
Credofilmy
ARTE
Bayerischer Rundfunk

Distribution
Beta Cinema > Distribution Sales

Ocean Films > Distribution (France)
ABC Distribution > Distribution (Belgium)
Sony Pictures Classics > Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International > Distribution
New Select Company > Distribution
Sandrew Metronome AB > Distribution
Alta Films > Distribution
Europa Filmes > Distribution
Prooptiki > Distribution
Hopscotch Films > Distribution

Film Financiers
FFA Filmfoerderungsanstalt
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH



Length 137 min, 3,754 m
Format 35 mm, color, cs
Original Version German
Subtitled Versions English
Sound Technology Dolby Digital
Festival Screenings Locarno 2006 (Piazza Grande), Toronto 2006 (Special Presentation), Haugesunde 2006, Telluride 2006, Gdynia 2006, Helsinki 2006, Rio 2006, Copenhagen 2006 (In Competition), Athen 2006, Warsaw 2006, Pusan 2006, Zagreb 2006 (In Competition), London 2006, AFI Fest Los Angeles 2006, Tallinn Black Nights 2006, Pantalla Pinamar Argentina 2006, Molodist Kiev 2006 (In Competition), Seville 2006 (In Competition), Montreal New Cinema 2006, Vancouver 2006, Camerimage 2006, Jakarta 2006, Dubai 2006, Cape Town 2006, Luenen 2006, Auxerre 2006, DER FILM Prague 2006, Palm Springs 2007, Rotterdam 2007, Berlin 2007 (German Cinema), Sofia 2007, Shanghai 2007, Kolkata 2007, Kerala 2007, Havana 2007, Berlin & Beyond San Francisco 2007, Rotterdam 2008
Awards Bavarian Film Awards 2005 (Best Actor: Ulrich Muehe, Best Newcomer Director & Screenplay: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, VGF Prize: Wiedemann & Berg), German Films Awards 2006 (Gold Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Screenplay), Audience Award Locarno 2006, Bernhard Wicki Award Munich 2006, Best Actor & Audience Award & Best Actor Copenhagen 2006, Audience Award Warsaw 2006, People's Choice Award Vancouver 2006, Audience Award Zagreb 2006, Satyajit Ray Award: Best Debut Feature London, 2006, People's Choice Award Montreal 2006, Golden Key & Audience Award Auxerre 2006, Gilde Film Award Leipzig 2006, 2nd Place: Best Feature Seville 2006, European Film Award 2006 (Best Film, Best Actor, Best Screenwriter), Guldbaggen 2007 (Swedish National Film Prize for Best Foreign Film), Audience Award Palm Springs 2007, Audience Award Rotterdam 2007, Robert 2007 (Danish National Film Prize for Best Foreign Film), Independent Spirit Award L.A. 2007, Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2006, David di Donatello Award for Best European Film 2007
With backing from Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
German Distributor Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany/Munich

World Sales
Beta Cinema / Dept. of Beta Film GmbH
Andreas Rothbauer
Gruenwalder Weg 28 d
82041 Oberhaching/Germany
phone +49-89-67 34 69 80
fax +49-89-6 73 46 98 88
email: ARothbauer@betacinema.com
http://www.betacinema.com/