First Austrian film to win an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.
Some experts believe the real-life counterfeit pounds were thwarted by nothing more than common courtesy. Honest Britons picked the airdropped bills off the street and turned them over to the police, averting a financial disaster.
Austria's The Counterfeiters (2007) was the winner in the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category at the 80th Academy Awards in 2008. The film was much criticized as conventional and artistically inferior to Cristian Mungiu's acclaimed Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), which wasn't even nominated. This spectacular snub resulted in intense scrutiny by the international press and ridicule of the Academy Awards by the film community. Eventually this inspired reforms to the 'Best Foreign Language Film' selection process.