Former Kent pupil’s Oscar for Netflix film
James picks up yet another award for his work in movies
A former Kent schoolboy has picked up his first Oscar for his work on a Netflix film.
James Friend won the Best Cinematography prize for his role in the anti-war epic All Quiet On The Western Front. The film, which is directed by German filmmaker Edward Berger and is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, also scooped three other Academy Awards. Along with Best Cinematography, it won Best International Feature Film, Best Production Design and Best Original Score, at this year’s award ceremony. Friend – who grew up in Maidstone – thanked his crew, Berger and his parents for believing in him when accepting his award, which was also his first Oscar nomination.
The cinematographer also scooped a BAFTA last month for the same project. He attended Brunswick House junior school in Leafy Lane, before going on to Sutton
Valence School just outside of the town.
Friend has worked with legends such as Sir Ian McKellen, Tim Roth and Benedict Cumberbatch and on a range of movies and series, including Luther: The Movie, Disney+’s Willow, Sky Atlantic’s Patrick Melrose and BBC’s Silent Witness.
The Maidstone man previously named a little town near Sevenoaks as the “weirdest” place he has ever filmed.
When asked about the oddest place he has ever shot, he told British Cinematographer: “A fully-functioning Wild West town in rural Kent called Laredo. “People would live there in
cowboy costumes for extensive periods of time with no electricity.”
Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, which was shot in Margate, was also nominated for Best Cinematography along with features Elvis, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths and Tár, starring Cate Blanchett.