Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North American rights from Beta Cinema to Stefan Ruzowitzky's Nazi drama The Counterfeiter, which is nominated for seven Lola awards including best film, actor and screenplay.

The film recently received its world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and tells the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936.

Karl Markovics, Devid Striesow and August Diehl star, and Ruzowitzky adapted the screenplay from Adolf Burger's memoirs Des Teufels Werkstatt (The Devil's Workshop).

'From the very beginning Sony Pictures Classics was our first choice, especially after seeing what a terrific job they did on The Lives Of Others,' Beta Cinemas managing director Dirk Schuerhoff said.

'The Counterfeiter is a tale of the holocaust never recounted before on film,' a statement issued by SPC said. 'Stefan Ruzowitzky's skills as a film-maker make the story riveting from start to finish.

SPC and Beta Cinema previously collaborated on the foreign language Oscar winner The Lives of Others.

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