“Nothing New in the West” nominated for nine Oscars

Dhe German contribution “Nothing New in the West” by director Edward Berger has been nominated for nine Oscars, including in the top category “Best Film” and in the category “International Feature Film”. This was announced by the Los Angeles Film Academy on Tuesday.

Along with the anti-war drama, four other films are in the running for the so-called foreign Oscars, including “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina), “Close” (Belgium) and “EO” (Poland).

“Nothing New in the West” picked up further nominations in the categories of camera, make-up and hairstyling, production design, sound, visual effects and adapted screenplay. In addition, the German composer Volker Bertelmann was nominated for his film music. Bertelmann, also known by the stage name Hauschka, vividly 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.

In addition to the German contribution “Nothing New in the West” the tragic comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” also received nine nominations. Top Gun: Maverick had six nominations, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had five. James Cameron’s “Avatar” is on the list four times.

This year’s Oscar favorite, with 11 nominations, is the sci-fi film Everything Everywhere All at Once. The work by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert is up for grabs in the categories of best film, best director and best actress. 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.

A year ago, Germany sent the tragic comedy “I am your human” into the race for the so-called foreign Ocar, but the film by director Maria Schrader did not make it into the final round. Germany’s last success in this Oscar category was more than fifteen years ago: in 2007 Florian Henckel won the trophy from Donnersmarck’s Stasi drama “The Lives of Others”.

The 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood is scheduled for March 12th.