The Lives of Others, a spy film set in the former East Germany, won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Its director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, writes that it's "a human drama about the ability of human beings to do the right thing, no matter how far they have gone down the wrong path."
In addition to the Oscar, the film took home seven Lola awards (the German answer to the Academy Awards), along with prizes at the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. It's due out on DVD Aug. 21.
This interview first aired on Feb. 7, 2007.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
