The German remake of All Quiet on the Western Front has dominated this year’s BAFTA awards breaking the record for most awards won by a film not in English at the ceremony.
The anti-war epic is based on the 1928 novel of the same name by author Erich Maria Remarque, with the first film adaptation being released in English in 1930.
Looking at the horrors of the First World from the perspective of a young German soldier, played by 27-year-old Felix Kammerer, the Netflix drama has led nominations this awards season, winning 14 BAFTA nods.
During the 2023 BAFTA Awards held at Royal Festival Hall in London, All Quiet On The Western Front took seven of the coveted 14 nominations, including Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director for Edward Berger, among others.
Given that the World War One epic scooped seven wins on the night, it means that it has broken the Bafta record for the most awards won by a film not in the English language.
Lifting the lid on the nominations and the upcoming Oscar's, lead actor Felix, 27, exclusively told The Mirror that the buzz around the nominations, his performance, and the poignant theme of the movie have all been 'overwhelming'.
Felix, who plays Paul Bäumer, in the incredible Netflix war movie said that when the nominations came rolling in, he had to pinch himself before he rushed to look at the BAFTA website where he discovered All Quiet On The Western Front was up for 14 awards.
"It's absolutely overwhelming. It's mind baffling," the talented actor said.
Felix went on to recall where he was when he found out the good news that the Netflix movie had been honoured with fourteen nominations.
"I think I was at the rehearsal theatre and I looked at my phone and suddenly I saw 80 messages and 20 missed phone calls and I went and looked at the BAFTA website and I thought to myself, 'this can't be real. Is this really happening?'
"We were hoping for something, but we never expected this. I wasn't expecting it, but suddenly it goes in this direction and here we are."
Austrian actor Felix also gushed over his co-stars, describing them as family after they spent months filming the traumatic war movie.
Given the storyline, and the fact he and his co-stars filmed intense battle scenes every other day, Felix said he felt supported by his cast members during those heavy moments.
"I was really lucky to have this group and we have really developed a friendship - I feel like they are my family now. It was a life-changing experience working on this film, and I'm so happy to have met these people and that I'm able to experience all of this now."
Following his epic win, the director of the critically acclaimed war flick, Edward Berger told the audience at the London event that he and his fellow filmmakers, 'grew up with a responsibility to tell the story' as they paid tribute to soldiers fighting in the Ukraine conflict.
