Jonathan Glazer's 'The Zone of Interest' Provokes Intense Conversations

German actor Christian Friedel's portrayal of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss in the U.K.'s Oscar submission sparks discussions about the film's meaning and relevance.

The Zone of Interest, a film by Jonathan Glazer, is a daring, anti-conventional Holocaust film that follows the lives of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss, his wife, and their kids as the horrors of Auschwitz unfold right over their garden wall.
The film is based loosely on a novel by the late Martin Amis and is the U.K.’s submission for the Best International Feature Oscar.
German actor Christian Friedel portrays Höss, a role he describes as challenging, requiring him to portray the character very inwardly.
The film was shot with the cameras positioned at a distance, often hidden in bushes and behind furniture, creating a sense of observing the family's ordinary situations.
The film has been acclaimed at film festivals, provoking intense conversations about its meaning and relevance to today's society.