German films that made it to the Oscars

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck already won the best foreign language film Oscar with his feature debut. Released 17 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the story of an agent of the Stasi, the GDR's secret police, monitoring residents in East Berlin was the first major drama portraying the East German socialist state — comedies such as Goodbye Lenin! had previously touched on the topic.

The memorable performance of then 11-year-old actor David Bennent as Oskar Matzerath caused controversy since it included sex scenes, still Volker Schlöndorff's adaptation of Günter Grass' novel from 1959 was an international hit. It won the Palme d'Or in Cannes as well as the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 1980. Only three German films were honored with the prestigious accolade.

The story of a German-Jewish family that immigrated to Kenya in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution was tailored to suit the Academy's tastes. Caroline Link's movie adaptation of the autobiographical novel written by Stefanie Zweig made it into the select ranks of German films that have won the best foreign film Oscar.

Maren Ade's quirky comedy-drama starring Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller was a strong favorite for Cannes' Palme d'Or and at the Oscars, but didn't win either of the awards. The film's pace was perhaps too unconventional by Hollywood standards — an Americanized version of the film, with Jack Nicholson and Kristen Wiig in the lead roles, is being produced.

Wim Wenders' 3D documentary on contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch was selected as the German entry for the best foreign film Oscar, but failed to be nominated in that category. It was, however, one of the nominations in the Academy Awards' best documentary feature category.

Through this dark story of hierarchy, authority and violence, Michael Haneke portrayed the roots of evil present in German society and families before World War I. The black-and-white drama won the Palme d'Or and the Golden Globe in 2010, received two Oscar nominations — best foreign film and best cinematography — but failed to win those.

Based on Stefan Aust's best-selling non-fiction book from 1985, Uli Edel's movie told the story of how the far-left group Red Army Faction, aka RAF, took off, starting with the Shah of Iran's visit of West Berlin in 1967. Moritz Bleibtreu portrayed Andreas Baader and Martina Gedeck was Ulrike Meinhof. While it was nominated at the Oscars, it didn't win.

Another memorable Academy Award nominee, the historical drama starring Julia Jentsch and directed by Marc Rothemund recounts the last days of Sophie Scholl, who was a member of the anti-Nazi non-violent student resistance group the White Rose. The 21-year-old was executed on the same day she was found guilty of high treason, on February 22, 1943.

Historical war dramas have often been among the Academy Award's picks. Oliver Hirschbiegel's depiction of Adolf Hitler's downfall was one of them. Actor Bruno Ganz took on the challenge of portraying the Nazi dictator's bizarre last 10 days. While the movie didn't win the Oscar, it inspired countless internet parodies.