Oscars 2023: All Quiet on the Western Front’s Volker Bertelmann wins Best Original Score

German war-drama All Quiet on the Western Front took home four Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards from the nine categories it was nominated in. Volker Bertelmann’s grim and tense score for the Netflix film clinched this year’s Best Original Score, marking the second consecutive win for a German composer in the category after Han Zimmer had picked up the trophy last year for his work on Dune.

Volker, who was presented the award by Mindy Kaling and John Cho, thanked the Academy for the recognition and then went on to say how he thought about his mother often while working on the movie’s score. “She was telling me every now and then, ‘When you want to change humanity and empathy in the world you have to start by yourself and your own surroundings’.” He said as people, we learn by this and eventually emulate how “we all can live together”.

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The composer also said that while working on the movie, which highlights themes of anti-war, everyone is “deeply touched”. Bertelmann, who has also worked in movies such as Lion, Stowaway and Against the Ice, also thanked his family, colleagues and fellow nominees.

All Quiet on the Western Front also took home the trophies for Best International Film, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Visual Effects and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The movie, which is available to stream on Netflix, had picked up seven wins at this year’s BAFTA awards, clinching the honours for major categories including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Score. All Quiet on the Western Front is based on an eponymous World War I novel and stars Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch and Daniel Bruhl. The movie, helmed by Edward Berger, had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, before dropping on Netflix in October.