DHAKA: The Hungarian Holocaust drama ‘Son of Saul’ by Laszlo Nemes won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The film, which was partly financed by the Claims Conference, claimed the prize at the annual Oscar ceremony Sunday night (February 28) in Los Angeles.

The win is the second straight for a Holocaust film in the category, reports the Jerusalem Post.

In 2015, the Polish film ‘Ida’, about a young soon-to-be nun who learns her parents were Jews killed during the war, took home the best foreign film Oscar.

Set in Auschwitz in 1944, ‘Son of Saul’ tells the story of Saul Auslander, a Jewish inmate forced to escort his fellow prisoners to the gas chambers and help to dispose of their remains. The title role is played by Geza Rohrig, a Hungarian poet and observant Jew who now lives in New York.

The film was heavily favored to win on Sunday, having already claimed the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in May and the Golden Globe for best foreign film in January.

On Saturday (February 27), it won the prize for best international film at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles.

Catholic Church abuse movie ‘Spotlight’ was named best picture, the top award at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, after a night peppered with pointed punchlines from host Chris Rock about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that has dominated the industry.

In a ceremony where no single movie commanded attention, Mexico’s Alejandro Inarritu nabbed the best directing Oscar for ‘The Revenant’, becoming the first filmmaker in more than 60 years to win back-to-back Academy Awards.

Inarritu won in 2015 for ‘Birdman’.

BDST: 1455 HRS, FEB 29, 2016
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