All Quiet on the Western Front, which was filmed in and around Prague in the spring of 2021, has dominated the 2023 BAFTAs, taking home a total of seven awards including Best Picture and Best Director (Edward Berger).
“We’ve been blessed with so many nominations and winning this is just incredible,” said producer Malte Grunert in his acceptance speech at London’s Royal Festival Hall during the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday evening.
All Quiet on the Western Front was nominated for a total of 14 BAFTA awards, leading all films in contention. It has also been nominated for a total of nine Academy Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday, March 13.
In addition to Best Film and Best Director, All Quiet on the Western Front won BAFTAs for Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Adapted Screenplay (Berger, Ian Stokell, and Leslie Patterson), Best Original Score (Volker Bertelmann), and Best Cinematography (James Friend).
A Czech filmmaker also picked up a BAFTA for All Quiet on the Western Front, as Viktor Prášil won for Best Sound, sharing the award with Lars Ginzsel, Frank Kruse, and Markus Stemler.
Prášil will compete for an Oscar in Sound next month, alongside Prague-based film professionals Linda Eisenhamerová (competing for Makeup and Hairstyling alongside Heike Merker) and UPP Prague’s Viktor Müller and Kamil Jafar (competing for Visual Effects with Markus Frank and Frank Petzold).
At the BAFTA awards last evening, Avatar: The Way of Water defeated All Quiet on the Western Front for Best Visual Effects, while Elvis won for Best Makeup and Hair.
Other winners at the BAFTA awards on Sunday evening included The Banshees of Inisherin, which won Best British Film, Best Original Screenplay, (Martin McDonagh), Best Supporting Actor (Barry Keoghan), and Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon).
Oscar favorite Everything Everywhere All At Once was largely snubbed at the BAFTAs, taking home a single award for Best Editing. The much-maligned Babylon also picked up one award, for Best Production Design.
Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for TÁR, which opens in Prague cinemas next weekend, and Austin Butler won Best Actor for Elvis, which also won awards for Best Casting, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hair.
All Quiet on the Western Front was shot in and around Prague in 2021 with the participation of local film crews and filmmakers including production company Sirena Film. A World War One battlefield the size of two football fields was recreated in a rural location outside of Prague.
After dominating the BAFTA awards and despite not having a big awards-season push from Netflix, All Quiet on the Western Front may now be a favorite at next month’s Academy Awards. The BAFTAs share 19 categories with the Oscars; last year, 15 BAFTA winners went on to win Oscars, and in 2021, an incredible 18 of the 19 winners were the same between the BAFTAs and the Oscars.
