Hungary’s “Son of Saul”, a harrowing drama revolving around a Sonderkommando working at the crematorium at Auschwitz in 1944, won the best foreign film Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards.
Directed by Laszlo Nemes, the film deals with Saul Auslander, a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, a group of Jewish prisoners forced to lead other inmates in Auschwitz-Birkenau to their deaths and dispose of their bodies in the crematoriums.
One day, Saul finds a young boy and, taking him for his son, tries to arrange for a proper Jewish funeral for him.
The film was a frontrunner in the category where it saw off competition from Colombia’s “Embrace of the Serpent”, France’s “Mustang”, Jordon’s “Theeb” and Denmark’s “A War”.
“I share this with my actors, incredible cast and crew who believed in me and the project when no one did,” Nemes said in his acceptance speech.
It is the second foreign film Oscar for Hungary which first won the Oscar trophy for “Mephisto” in 1981.
“Court”, India’s official entry to the Oscars this year, dropped out of the competition in December.