Almost 100 years after its publication, Erich Maria Remarque's anti-war novel "Nothing New in the West" is more relevant than ever. The remake of the classic is now in the Oscar race for Germany. Edward Berger's film prevailed against eight well-known applicants - but it is not yet certain whether it will make it into the final round.
Edward Berger's film "Nothing New in the West" is set to win the Oscar for Germany in 2023. That was decided by a jury in Munich, according to German Films, the agency for German film abroad. "Erich Maria Remarque wrote a book almost 100 years ago that is unfortunately more relevant today than we expected," said director Berger. "It is a great honor for us that we should now enter the race for the Oscars with our film. It's a long way."
The Netflix production is an adaptation of the 1929 anti-war novel of the same name. The film is scheduled to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film is scheduled to hit selected German cinemas at the end of September and will be included in the Netflix program on October 28, 2022.
Berger's film prevailed against eight other applicants, including "Dear Kurt" by director, producer and actor Til Schweiger. The film adaptation of Sarah Kuttner's bestseller "Kurt" tells the story of the fate of a young blended family, with Schweiger playing one of the main roles. The other candidates were the film "Rabiye Kurnaz against George W. Bush" by Andreas Dresen, "Everybody is talking about the weather" by Annika Pinske, "Everything in the Best Order" by Natja Brunckhorst, "The Passport Forger" by Maggie Peren, "Nico" by Eline Gehring, "Nobody is with the calves" by Sabrina Sarabi and "We might as well be dead" by Natalia Sinelnikova.
The choice of the German contribution is only a preliminary stage in the race for the foreign Oscar. The shortlist of 15 titles from the international applicants will be announced in December. The five nominated films are then selected from this shortlist. The Oscars will then be awarded on March 12, 2023.
Last year, Maria Schrader's futuristic tragic comedy "I'm Your Human" was shortlisted but didn't make it into the finals. Germany's last success in the Oscar category for best non-English language film was 15 years ago. At that time, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's Stasi drama "The Lives of Others" won.
