As of: 01/24/2023 4:08 p.m
There are definitely chances of an Oscar for Germany this year. The German anti-war drama “Nothing New in the West” is entering the race with nine nominations. Two more got favorite “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.
It’s been a while since an Oscar was awarded for a German film. A year ago, the tragic comedy “I’m your human” by director Maria Schrader made it into the race for the so-called foreign Oscar, but not into the final round. Germany’s last success in this category was more than 15 years ago: in 2007, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Stasi drama “The Lives of Others” won the trophy.
This year the chances of winning one of the coveted film prizes for a German production are pretty good. Director Edward Berger’s anti-war drama “Nothing New on the West” has been nominated for nine Oscars – including for the top categories “Best Picture” and “Best International Film”, as announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Four other films have been nominated in the race for the so-called foreign Oscars – including “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina), “Close” (Belgium) and “EO” (Poland).
Nomination for Hauschka’s film music
Other nominations included Best Camera, Best Sound, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Make Up & Hairstyling, Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects.
In addition, the German composer Volker Bertelmann was nominated for his film music. Bertelmann, also known by the stage name Hauschka, underscored the horror of war in “Nothing New in the West”. In 2017 he was nominated for an Oscar together with his US colleague Dustin O’Halloran for the soundtrack to the film “Lion”. At the award ceremony, however, they went away empty-handed.
“Nothing New in the West” based on the book by Erich Maria Remarque from 1929 shows the horror of the First World War from the perspective of a young soldier. Austrian Felix Kammerer plays the leading role.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” – the favorite
The science fiction adventure comedy “Everything Everywhere All At Once” by the director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert received eleven and thus the most nominations. The film is about a laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) with a chaotic everyday life who takes on the tax inspector (Jamie Lee Curtis) at the IRS because of her tax return. She also has problems with her daughter and her husband (Ke Huy Quan) wants a divorce. Her universe is turned upside down, she whirls through parallel worlds in which action and kung fu elements are also used.
In addition to “Nothing New in the West”, there were nine nominations for the Irish tragic comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin”. Director Baz Luhrman’s film “Elvis” has been nominated eight times, Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” seven times. “Top Gun: Maverick” had six nominations, while “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” had five. James Cameron’s “Avatar” is on the list four times.
The satire “Triangle of Sadness” about a luxury cruise, which was awarded the best European film of the year, competes in three categories – including “Best Director” and “Best Film”. The story, told by Swede Ruben Östlund, takes a critical but also comical look at capitalism and modern society.
The 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood is scheduled for March 12th.