The Counterfeiters

Stefan Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters (German: Die Fälscher) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 80th Academy Awards in February 2008 — the first Austrian production to win the prize. The screenplay is adapted from Adolf Burger's autobiographical book The Devil's Workshop (German: Des Teufels Werkstatt), an account of Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting scheme in history.

Operation Bernhard was a real Nazi programme established in mid-1942 at Sachsenhausen concentration camp under SS-Sturmbannführer Bernhard Krüger. Roughly 142 Jewish prisoners with relevant skills — printers, engravers, photographers — were forced to counterfeit British pounds with the goal of destabilising the British economy and financing German espionage. The forged notes are still considered among the most accomplished counterfeit currency ever produced; the Bank of England recalled its £5 notes in stages after 1945 specifically because of operation Bernhard issues remaining in circulation.

The cast is led by Karl Markovics — until then primarily a television actor in Austria — alongside August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach and Marie Bäumer. Markovics' performance earned him the European Film Award nomination for Best Actor and effectively repositioned his career, leading to multiple subsequent international roles. The film is regularly cited in academic discussions of forced collaboration in the camp system, alongside László Nemes' Son of Saul (2015) and the documentary record of the Sonderkommando units.