Around 300 representatives of the German and international film and cultural scene came together last Saturday at the annual reception at the Villa Aurora, German Films and the German Consulate General in Los Angeles to celebrate the German Oscar hopes.

Markus Klimmer, Chair of Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V., took the opportunity to present Nikolai Blaumer, the new Program Director of Thomas Mann House, to the public. Among the guests were representatives of the film crews of the nominated films, Villa Aurora Fellows Paul Frick, Juan Guse, Natalie Häusler, Oxana Omelchuk, Julie Pfleiderer, Jana Schulz, Ali Soozandeh, director of Tehran Taboo, and the new director of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, Lien Heidenreich-Seleme.

Nominated to the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was  Sebastián Lelio's "A Fantastic Woman" (Komplizen Film), Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Loveless" (Senator Film Production) and Ruben Östlund's "The Square" (Essential Film). In the documentary category, Fera Fayyad's "The Last Men of Aleppo" (Kloos & Co. Media) competed for one of the coveted statues. The composer Hans Zimmer was nominated for his work on the film "Dunkirk" by Christopher Nolan. The German Gerd Nefzer was nominated for the best visual effects in "Blade Runner 2049" by Denis Villeneuve, Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer were nominated for their film "Roaring Rhymes" in the category Best Animated Short Film. In the category Best Short Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen were nominated for their movie "Watu Wote - All of us". At the awards ceremony on Sunday "A Fantastic Woman" was awarded the best foreign language film and Gerd Nefzer won the Oscar for the best visual effects in "Blade Runner 2049" ,

The reception in honor of the German Oscar nominees was supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, as well as by Dr. Hauschka, AMI, Belvoir, Crosby Doe Associates, AMI, Selters, Volvic and Bernhard Mairinger.

The Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. is supported by the Federal Foreign Office and by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.