Heisenberg's The Robber leads nominations for Austrian Film Awards

Benjamin Heisenberg’s 2010 Berlinale competition film The Robber has bagged the highest number of nominations for the first Austrian Film Awards with nods in seven categories including Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Lead Actor.

In addition, four nominations apiece were bestowed by members of the new Austrian Film Academy on Jessica Hausner’s Venice 2009 winner Lourdes (including Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay) and Oskar Roehler’s Jud Suess - Film Ohne Gewissen (including Best Lead Actor for Moritz Bleibtreu and Tobias Moretti).

Austrian producers submitted a total of 41 films for consideration by the 140-strong membership of the Austrian Film Academy for nomination. Achievements in 17 Austrian films appear in the nominations which consist of 13 prize categories with three nominations apiece.

In addition to Lourdes and The Robber, the Best Feature Film includes a nomination for Andreas Prochaska’s box office success Die unabsichtliche Entfuehrung der Frau Elfriede Ott, while the Best Director category also has a nomination for the directorial duo Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, the makers of Austria’s current Oscar entry La Pivellina.

Meanwhile, Houchang Allahyari’s Bock For President, Sudebah Mortezai’s Im Bazar Der Geschlechter and Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis’ Pianomania were nominated in the Best Documentary category.

The winners in the 13 prize categories will be decided by the Austrian Film Academy membership by the end of January and announced at an awards ceremony in Vienna on Jan 29 by the Film Academy presidents Barbara Albert and Karl Markovics.

Following the awards ceremony, a series of Academy Screenings throughout Austria will staged during the spring to present a selection of the prize-winning films to the general public with personal appearances by the filmmakers for Q&As after the screenings.

The full list of nominations can be found at www.oesterreichische-filmakademie.at