LOS ANGELES, March 15 (Reuters) – “Sentimental Value,” directed by Joachim Trier, won the Oscar for best international feature film on Sunday, the first Norwegian film to win in this category after six previous nominations.
“I’m just a film nerd from Norway,” director Joachim Trier said onstage during his acceptance speech, standing alongside his film team.
While “Sentimental Value” centers on a deeply dysfunctional family, Trier said he felt the opposite about the cast behind him.
He went on to paraphrase author and activist James Baldwin, noting that adults are responsible for children, and emphasized the importance of not supporting politicians who fail to prioritize children.
In the movie, Renate Reinsve plays stage actress Nora, who has a complicated relationship with her estranged father Gustav Borg, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgard, whose film-making career has waned. The film also garnered four acting nominations as well as nods for best picture and director.
The film traces “the emotional behind-the-scenes story of reconciliation through art,” Variety said in its review.
Prior Norwegian nominees included Trier’s previous film, “The Worst Person in the World,” “Kon-Tiki,” “Elling,” “The Other Side of Sunday,” “Pathfinder,” and “Nine Lives” from 1957.
The other nominees this year were Brazil’s “The Secret Agent,” Iran’s “It Was Just an Accident,” “Sirāt” from Spain, and “The Voice of Hind Rajab” from Tunisia.
(Reorting by Danielle Broadway; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Howard Goller)
