Oscars 2023: Scots screenwriter up for awards glory for All Quiet on the Western Front

Scots screenwriter Lesley Paterson is celebrating Oscars joy as her film All Quiet on the Western Front received several nominations.

The film, co-written with Ian Stokell and director Edward Berger, is up for Best Picture alongside blockbusters Avatar: The Way Of Water, Top Gun: Maverick, and Elvis.

Also included in the 10-strong category in the Academy Awards were The Banshees Of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Tar, Triangle Of Sadness and Women Talking.

And the nominees for Best Picture are… #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/0aNqCj0Tl2

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 24, 2023

All Quiet on the Western Front has nine nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. The Oscar nods come after the film was nominated for 14 Baftas last week.

Paterson said last week: “We are so honoured and excited that our film was nominated in so many categories. After 16 years of pushback, this is such vindication that our instincts were in the right place.

“We feel so lucky to have partnered with director Edward Berger, producer Malte Grunert, and Netflix, to elevate and take this project to another level.”

© Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

It’s the third film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel, first published in 1928.

The film was the result of years of hard work, with Paterson drawing from her Scottish upbringing and her career as a triathlete to bring it to fruition.

Paterson told The Sunday Post last week: “I grew up feeling like, if you’re from Scotland, it’s virtually impossible to get to where I’ve got to in Hollywood. And it isn’t, you’ve got to believe in yourself. You’ve got to keep creating and doing and getting the word out and you can make that happen.

“It is a weird business and as you get further up the chain you see the luck and the different variables that have to come together to make it work.”

Read the full interview with Lesley Paterson here.

Nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday and were read out by Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams, in-person for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the pack with 11 nominations.

Irish actor Paul Mescal is nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in Scottish director Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun.

In November, Mescal, 26, told The Sunday Post that he fought hard for the part of 30-something father Calum despite an unwritten rule in the industry that ambitious young male actors should never play dads so early in their careers.

“I read Aftersun when I was preparing for another film, God’s Creatures, and immediately thought ‘I will do bad, bad things to be in this film’”, he said.

“I wasn’t really aware of the politics of ‘you shouldn’t really be playing dads, you’re 26’. I just thought that this was a fantastic character and I was going to do everything I can to play Calum.

“I’m not a dad, and I’m nowhere near being a dad, but right off the bat, Calum felt like somebody a little bit closer to me than some of my other roles – but yeah, it’s quite a journey from a teenage drama like Normal People to becoming a dad in just two years.”

Normal People star Paul Mescal on a surprise screen switch from brooding teen to fatherhood

Mescal is nominated alongside Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), and Bill Nighy (Living).

The best actor nomination continues Farrell’s successful awards season run, having been nominated for both a Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild gong for his performance in the Banshees Of Inisherin.

The Irish star appears opposite long-time friend and colleague Brendan Gleeson in Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy – which is set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland.

Despite his long and impressive career, it is the first time English actor Nighy has been nominated for an Academy Award.

The nod comes for his turn in Living, in which he portrays a veteran civil servant who is inspired to make the most of his remaining days, following a life of tedium.

Cate Blanchett (Tár), Ana De Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) are nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Riseborough joined frontrunners Blanchett and Yeoh following a grassroots awards season campaign.

Williams was also nominated following a campaign to recognise her acclaimed performance as Mitzi, the piano-playing mother in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, rather than as a best supporting role.

There’s an all-male shortlist for Directing, Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans), Todd Field (Tár), and Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness).

How an East Lothian farm steading played a crucial role in Oscar-tipped film Tár

There’s a Scottish link to Field’s drama Tár; Papple Steading in East Lothian was taken over by the writer and director at the start of last year to complete post-production on the film.

Field and his team fell in love with the secluded, comfortable setting and made use of its dedicated internet connection, which allowed them the capacity to handle large video files as hours of filming were condensed into the finished film.

Owner George Mackintosh said he and his team were “tickled pink” to have played a part in the film making it to the big screen.

The star-studded Oscars ceremony, due to be hosted by US talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel, will take place on March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.