Oscars 2023: ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ takes best international film and more

The World War I drama “All Quiet on the Western Front” won four Oscars through the first two-thirds of the Academy Awards on Sunday, with wins for best international feature the biggest of those.

The German film had earlier won the Oscar for best cinematography for James Friend. After director Edward Berger accepted the Oscar for international feature the film added Academy Awards for best production design and best original score to its running score.

“This means so much to us,” Berger said of the film, which became the third German film to win the best foreign or international film category. “I met so many new friends on this movie.”

Berger, like the other “All Quiet” winners, was gracious and grateful to the entire cast and crew, but singled out lead actor Felix Kammerer, through whose eyes the story unfolded, for special praise.

“This was your first movie, and you carried us on your shoulders as if it was nothing,” Berger said to Kammerer. “Without you, none of us would be here.”

Composer Volker Bertelmann thanked his mother for reminding him of the power and role of the individual to affect change in the world.

“She was telling me, every now and then, when you want to change humanity and empathy in the world, you have to start with yourself,” Bertelmann said.