The first thing that Jonathan Glazer and Łukasz Żal discussed about their then future project, "The Zone of Interest", was their concern to not simply repeat earlier images of the Holocaust. In his interview with the Polish Press Agency, Żal says:
"We began with the assumption that sometimes more important than what you see on the screen is what happens off-camera. That's why we did not set out to show the cruelty of guards, the suffering of camp inmates - everything that cinema has accustomed us to. Instead, we decided to focus on the lives of the culprits, the authors of these shameful deeds. Yet we watch them without judgment - as human beings it is not our place to issue verdicts."
"The Zone of Interest" (2023) is a historical drama based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis. A co-production of the United States, the United Kingdom and Poland, it was filmed in Poland - in (today's) Auschwitz Museum grounds and Jelenia Góra. It focusses, atypically, on the daily lives of the perpetrators of the Holocaust.
The film has received critical acclaim: on Rotten Tomatoes, the composite Critics' Review of 105 critics is 92% and the film will be entered by the UK for the next Academy Awards, in the category of Best International Feature Film.
Sandra Hüller, who plays Hedwig Höss, the wife of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, has also been tipped for awards:
The Zone of Interest is set for release in UK cinemas on 2 February 2024 and in Poland on 24 February 2024.
Sources: PAP, Twitter/Variety
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