Los Angeles (AP) - With seven awards, the action film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is the big winner of this year's Oscars - the German literary adaptation "Nothing New in the West" has won four awards. The Oscars were presented in Los Angeles on Monday night. «Nothing New in the West» by director Edward Berger tells the story of the First World War and was awarded best international film.
Four Oscars for German film
The anti-war film is only the fourth work from Germany to win an Oscar in this category - after "The Lives of Others" (2007), "Nowhere in Africa" (2003) and "The Tin Drum" (1980). There were also awards for camera, set design and film music. The story of the film is based on the novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970).
“Nothing New in the West” was nominated a total of nine times and ultimately won in four categories. However, he missed the award for best film - for the first time a German film was nominated in this category. The award went to "Everything Everywhere All at Once". The science fiction action film by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert tells the story of the operator of a laundromat who fights her way through several parallel universes.
Super heroine in the laundromat
Actress Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for Best Actress for the role of the laundromat operator. In her acceptance speech, she addressed all the boys and girls who "look like me and are watching tonight": "It's a signal of hope and opportunity," said the 60-year-old Malaysian. Dreams could come true. "And ladies: Don't let anyone tell you that your best years are over."
Actor Brendan Fraser won the Oscar for Best Actor. In "The Whale" by director Darren Aronofsky, the 54-year-old plays a very overweight man who wants to reconnect with his teenage daughter. The film also won an award for makeup.
Allusion to slapping gossip
The 95th Academy Awards ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who also alluded to last year's scandal during the evening. "Well, we have strict guidelines," Kimmel announced at the beginning of the evening. If someone gets violent this time - they'll get the Oscar for best actor.
Last year, Hollywood star Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock for a gag about his wife and was nevertheless awarded one of the most important awards, the leading role award for his performance in the drama "King Richard".
Rihanna and Lady Gaga, among others, performed this year. Gaga sang in jeans and a t-shirt and apparently no or little makeup - having previously appeared on the red carpet in evening gowns and striking makeup.
In the meantime, moderator Kimmel was also on stage with a parachute or a donkey – allusions to the films “Top Gun: Maverick” and “The Banshees of Inisherin”.
The film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" started the race with a total of eleven nominations as a favorite and ended up with seven Oscars. In addition to the director's prize, there were two other acting prizes: Jamie Lee Curtis was honored as best supporting actress - the 64-year-old prevailed against Angela Bassett ("Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"), among others. Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor.
News in view of the war in Ukraine
The actors Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch and Daniel Brühl also traveled to the USA with the German contribution "Nothing new in the West". The film can be seen on the Netflix streaming service.
"We tried to make a film about our past, about our responsibility in Germany with regard to our past," said director Berger after the award ceremony. "And suddenly, when we had already finished the film, it was also about our present." The film had become particularly topical in view of the war in Ukraine.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) congratulated the makers. "It is the greatest success that a German film has ever had at the Oscars," said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Monday in Berlin. The film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's novel had become highly topical as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Hebestreit said. «"Nothing New in the West" shows in a very intense way the horrors of the war in the middle of Europe.» The Oscars and other awards for the film could therefore also be understood as a "political signal against the Russian war of aggression".
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth expects the international reputation of German productions to be affected. "This will bring German film attention worldwide and give it new meaning," said the Greens politician in Los Angeles. "It is also the right film at the right time as it illuminates a war in Europe, in all its ferocity and brutality, that is currently raging again in the heart of Europe, sparked by Putin's criminal attack on Ukraine," Roth said.
The work "Navalny" by Canadian director Daniel Roher won the Oscar for best documentary. Roher met Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny in the Black Forest while Navalny was recovering from the effects of a poison attack with the chemical warfare agent Novichok. Navalny's wife Julija Navalnaja also came on stage for the award. "Stay strong, my love," she said.
The Best Adapted Screenplay award went to Sarah Polley for The Debate. The Avatar: The Way of Water team won for visual effects, while the Oscar for best sound went to the blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Costume designer Ruth Carter won an Oscar for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
