The director of “Nothing New in the West” said this morning that it is a responsibility to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine in the wake of the German film’s four-time Oscar win.
“The film we made is about a war that left many people displaced,” said Edward Berger in the interview room after “Nothing New West” won the Oscar for best international film.
“German history caused a lot of displaced people and I think it is our responsibility, especially in Germany, to help refugees from Ukraine,” the filmmaker said. “To give back in terms of what we got also welcomed people in America who had to flee Germany in World War II.”
#No news from the Western Front director Edward Berger wore a ribbon to represent displaced people at the #Oscars. “German history has caused a lot of displacement and I think it is our responsibility, especially in Germany, to help others.” https://t.co/K9nuU8GIYq pic.twitter.com/7u6Ji0tCEJ
– Variety (@Variety) March 13, 2023
Berger, like several other nominees at the 95th Academy Awards, wore a blue ribbon on his lapel that some journalists initially mistook for the flag of Ukraine.
“It’s a tape we have from the United Nations Refugee Agency and it’s to support refugees and displaced people, now more than ever,” Berger said.
The German-language film “Nothing New West”, which paints a brutal and dark portrait of the First World War, was one of the big winners of the Oscars, winning Best International Film, Best Cinematography, Best Soundtrack and Best Art Direction.
Comparisons between the tragic events of the film, set in 1917, and the war raging in Ukraine were brought up several times backstage during the ceremony.
“Obviously when we were filming the war in Ukraine didn’t exist yet, but the war in general is very present and historic and it’s a lesson we can learn from,” said James Friend, who won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography won.
“It’s absolutely awful, to be honest. And they should be ashamed,” he said.
Friend said the main goal was to portray in the film what war makes us feel. “It’s not supposed to look pretty. It’s got to look awful,” she described. “This movie is the closest thing to a horror movie.”
Director Edward Berger was grateful that the Academy recognized the film and what it is trying to do.
“We tried to make a film about our past, about our responsibility in Germany for our history and agenda,” he said. “We wanted to talk about the guilt, shame and terror that the two wars have brought to the world,” he continued.
With the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the film based on the 1929 book of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque acquired an additional meaning.
“And then, when we finished the film, it suddenly became about the present as well. New horrors broke out that we thought would never happen again in Europe,” said the director. “I hope that if we keep rereading it, the book will come into play at some point and not make the same mistakes again and again in the future.”
The ceremony also crowned the CNN documentary “Navalny”, about the attempted assassination of Vladimir Putin’s political opponent, Alexei Navalny.
“I want the world to remember that Alexei Navalny languishes in prison,” director Daniel Roher said backstage. “He is in solitary confinement for life and the reason he is in terrible conditions is because he is the biggest opponent of this war in Russia,” he said. “He is the man who opposes Putin’s ruthless war in Ukraine.”
Roher said he made a film about the Russian opposition leader and his mission to install democracy in Russia, but it wasn’t just for Russians. “It’s for all the people of the world who live in a context where the tides of authoritarianism come and go,” he continued.
“What we want to remind the world with our film is that we should all be wary of the values we believe in and the lives we want to lead, and those are democratic values.”
The 95th Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, with “Everything Everywhere at the Same Time” the big winner with seven Oscars, including Best Picture.
“A Oeste Nada de Novo” was the other big winner, with four statuettes.
In contrast, “The Spirits of Inisherin” (nine nominations), “Elvis” (eight nominations), “The Fabelmans” (seven nominations) and “Tár” (six nominations) all came out empty-handed.
Source: DN
