One of the five nominees competing for the 2009 Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category

After last year’s Austrian Oscar® success with Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters), Götz Spielmann’s fourth feature film
REVANCHE has been nominated this year in the best foreign language film category. The film is a suspenseful and subtle drama about revenge and reconciliation. It premiered at Berlin’s Panorama Film Festival in 2008 and has been awarded at numerous international film festivals since.

SYNOPSIS
Alex (Johannes Krisch) is a gofer in Vienna’s red-light district. His girlfriend Tamara (Irina Potapenko) is a prostitute in one of the
local brothels. Together they plot an escape to the countryside, attempting to rob a provincial bank to finance their journey. When
their plans go awry and the burglary becomes violent Tamara is shot and killed leaving Alex alone and out for revenge. REVANCHE takes the viewer on a journey from the turbulence of the city to the tranquility of nature, from summer to autumn, and from longing and guilt to the chance for reconciliation.

Austria 2008, 121 minutes, German with English subtitles
Writer and Director: Götz Spielmann

The other contenders at the 81st Academy Awards in the foreign language film category are:
The Baader-Meinhof Complex by Bernd Eichinger (Germany). The Class by Laurent Cantet (France).
Departures by Yojiro Takita (Japan). Waltz with Bashir by Ari Folman (Israel).