After viewing all the submitted films on August 20 and 21 in Munich, the nine-member jury selected the intergenerational drama SOUND OF FALLING, produced by Studio Zentral, as the German Oscar® candidate.

The jury's motivation reads as follows:
"SOUND OF FALLING is formally uncompromising, emotionally existential, and artistically unique - without any parallel in German and international cinema. Spanning a century, the film interweaves the lives of four women who struggle against confinement, violence and social constraints. A work of rare urgency, masterfully directed, poetic, universal, courageous, SOUND OF FALLING is a physical experience that resonates and burns itself into the memory."

Director Mascha Schilinski on the decision:
"On behalf of the whole team, I would like to express our gratitude that SOUND OF FALLING has been afforded the great honour of representing Germany at the Oscars®.  The film's journey so far - from winning the Jury Prize at this year's Festival de Cannes and now the joy of also representing Germany at the Oscars® - shows us that it is worth believing in your artistic vision. And that you can remain true to yourself - if you find the right companions to join you along the way. We are very happy to see the recognition and encouragement we are currently getting for our film.  We hope that this film's visibility will lead to filmmakers experiencing more openness and support when they make efforts to explore new narrative paths."

Producers Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt and Lasse Scharpen on the decision:
"It’s a great honour for us to have SOUND OF FALLING selected as the German OSCAR® entry. In the Oscars®’ 98-year history, films directed by women have unfortunately still been disproportionately under-represented. Female directors have been nominated on only nine occasions for the award in the “Best Director” category. This makes us all the more proud of being able with SOUND OF FALLING to represent the high quality of the German film landscape on an international level, and we hope that we can then build on the success Mascha Schilinski had already had with her film in Cannes."

About the film:
A secluded four-sided farmstead in the Altmark region. For over a century, the walls have breathed the lives of the people who live here, their tastes, their existence in time. SOUND OF FALLING tells the story of four women from different eras – Alma (1910s), Erika (1940s), Angelika (1980s) and Nelly (2020s) – whose lives are eerily intertwined. Each of them experiences their childhood or youth on this farm, but as they roam through their own present, traces of the past – unspoken fears, repressed traumas, buried secrets - reveal themselves to them. Alma discovers that she was named after her deceased sister and believes she must follow the same fate. Erika loses herself in a dangerous fascination with her disabled uncle. Angelika balances between a death wish and a lust for life, trapped in a fragile family system. And finally there’s Nelly, growing up in apparent security, who is haunted by intense dreams and the unconscious burden of the past. When a tragic event repeats itself on the farm, the boundaries between past and present begin to blur.

SOUND OF FALLING was the opening film in this year's Official Competition at the Festival de Cannes. The film was awarded the Jury Prize (ex aequo). Critics and industry professionals were already enthusiastic right after the premiere screenings in Cannes. The press described Schilinski's drama as a “mesmerising stunner” (IndieWire), “brilliant epic” (Variety), “captivating, courageous portrait of womanhood”’ (The Hollywood Reporter) and “an exhilarating experience” (Deadline).

SOUND OF FALLING was shown in Shanghai, Karlovy Vary and at several festivals in Australia shortly after the Cannes premiere. The drama will have its North American premiere in Toronto. Invitations to other renowned international festivals such as New York have already been confirmed.

SOUND OF FALLING was produced by Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt and Lasse Scharpen (for Studio Zentral) with ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel (Burkhard Althoff and Melvina Kotios) and backed by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM), the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).

The German distributor Neue Visionen will release the film in German cinemas on August 28, 2025. mk2 is handling international sales. SOUND OF FALLING has already been sold to over 40 territories around the world. MUBI has acquired the rights for North America, the UK, Ireland, India and Turkey.

The German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski studied Screenwriting at the Hamburg Film School and Directing at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. In her third year of studies, she directed her debut feature, DARK BLUE GIRL starring Helena Zengel in the lead role, this film had its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2017, was shown at numerous film festivals and won several international awards.  SOUND OF FALLING is Mascha Schilinski's second feature film.

The road to the Oscars®:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will publish a list of all the titles submitted for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category at the beginning of November. Last year, 85 countries submitted films. The shortlist of 15 titles for this category will be announced on December 16, 2025.
The five nominated films will be selected from this shortlist and announced on January 17, 2026.
The Oscar® ceremony will take place on March 15, 2026.

The selection of the German entry: 
The German entry for the Oscar® in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category is decided by an annually appointed selection committee. This committee consists of nine representatives from eight different trade associations and institutions active in the film industry.
As the responsible umbrella organisation, German Films oversees the preparation, organisation and implementation of the selection process for the German candidate to be submitted for consideration for the Oscar® in the “Best International Feature Film” category. German Films is not represented on the selection committee.

Contact:
Nicole Kaufmann (Head of Regional Desk USA & UK)
Angela Sonntag (Head of Press & Public Relations)