Stephen Daldry leads defence of The Reader

Kate Winslet's (pictured) triumph at the Oscars last night followed a last-minute defence of the film for which she won the best actress gong, The Reader. As reported here, the post-war drama had attracted a great deal of criticism in the run up to the awards from those who felt that Winslet's character in the movie, Hanna Schmitz, an illiterate concentration camp guard who shows no remorse for her crimes, was treated too sympathetically. It was even claimed that emails had been sent to selected Jewish members of the 5,800 voting panel pointing out its failings on this front by publicists batting for rival films.

However, in a joint statement issued before the Oscars, the film's director, Stephen Daldry, its producer Donna Gigliotti, executive producer Harvey Weinstein, and its writer David Hare, hit back at the claims. "We are proud of The Reader," it said, "and everyone who made this film. It is outrageous and insulting that people have called it a 'Holocaust denial film'."

It went on: "No one is suggesting that The Reader must be beloved by everyone. On the contrary, there is always room for criticism. If one does not like the film that is one matter; but to project one's personal bias on the film-maker's objective is wrong and something we could no longer remain silent about."

And to give added force to its claims, the Hollywood power quartet also managed to enlist the support of Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, to speak up for the movie. He said The Reader was "a film that deals powerfully with Germany's reconciliation with its past", insisting that it was not about the Holocaust but "what Germany did to itself and its future generations".

Despite this, Daldry, who was up for best director, and Hare, who was nominated for best screenplay, walked away from the awards empty handed last night.