The film , which included one of the last appearances of Ian Richardson before his death , was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards . It is a fictionalised account of an actual event that took place in December 1914 when Wilhelm , German Crown Prince , sent the lead singer of the Berlin Imperial Opera company on a solo visit to the front line . Singing by the tenor , Walter Kirchhoff , to the 120th and 124th Württemberg regiments led French soldiers in their trenches to stand up and applaud
78th Academy Awards
78th Academy Awards
Joyeux Noël