Oscars 2023: How Germany Translates History into Oscars Success

The anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front has won four Oscars in 2023, making it the most successful German film in the history of the Academy Awards. The film took the top prize in the categories Best International Film, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Music. Four trophies, its quite an accomplishment, one that only three other foreign productions have managed to date.


The history of German Oscar winners goes back to 1929. And the recipe for success has been unwavering. Time and again, it is stories with a direct connection to German history that are successful in Hollywood: Filmmakers score points with stories revolving around WWI and WWII or with a critical examination of GDR history, as in the 2006 drama, The Lives of Others.

Germans also repeatedly celebrate success in the dream factory with Oscars for production design, film music or special effects. All Quiet on the Western Front taking home four Oscars is surely also due to the fact that the film describes the horror of war in a certain timeless and unsparing way . The parallels to the war in Ukraine are frightening, despite 100 years between the two events. On this episode of Arts Unveiled we explore the triumph of the film team behind All Quiet on the Western Front and retrace the history of Germany's Oscar winners.


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