'Rabbit a la Berlin' ('Krolik po Berlinsku'), produced by Poland’s public television TVP, has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Short Documentary category.
Report by Joanna Najfeld
Made by Bartek Konopka and Piotr Rosołowski, Rabbit a la Berlin tells the story of thousands of wild rabbits which inhabited the so-called ‘death zone’ of the Berlin Wall – a strip of land between two walls full of fresh grass and ideal for the animals. Between 1961 and 1989 the rabbits lived there, isolated, supervised by the Wall guards.
Filmmaker Bartek Konopka told Polish Radio that the nomination is a nice surprise, especially since no special effort was taken to promote it. Film critic Andrzej Kołodynski, editor of the monthly Kino, told Polish Radio Information Agency IAR that Rabbit a la Berlin stands a great chance to win the Oscar.
Rabbit ala Berlin is a Polish-German co-production. It was financed by the Polish public television together with German MDR, RBB and ARTE televisions. The winner of 2010 Academy Awards will be announced on 7 March.