‘Sentimental Value’ Director Joachim Trier On His Film’s Nine Oscar Nominations: “I Had A Feeling That No One Would Be Left Behind”

This year, the international category was the focus of much speculation; in addition to the obviously intense competition for the final five slots, there was a sense that this year’s crop could break out into other categories. And so it came to pass: Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent and Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt all made significant inroads across the board, reinstating a trend last seen with Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite.

However, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value proved the season’s darkest horse, amassing nine nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and nods to all four key cast members — Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

Trier was in LA for the announcement, with his wife and family, hotfoot from London. “Welcome to my life,” Trier laughs. “But I try not to be like Gustav Borg,” he says, a reference to the domineering film director played by Golden Globes winner Skarsgård in the movie. “I try to be smart about my travels, and where we’re going at all times. My kids are very young — they’re two and five — so they are happy to move around a bit.”

DEADLINE: Were you watching the nominations in real time?

JOACHIM TRIER: I was. Yeah. I was on a Zoom with the whole team in Oslo and Stellan who was watching from Stockholm. All the Norwegian actors were in Norway. Elle was on FaceTime. We did not know what to expect, and we were so joyous and happy. I mean, what was it, nine nominations?!

DEADLINE: Yeah. What was the first nomination you heard?

TRIER: Well, the first two names that were called out were Elle and Inga. So, I had a feeling that we were gathering the family, and that no one would be left behind. And that made me very proud and joyous.

DEADLINE: So, there’s a few stats to take care of here. I’m hearing that, Oscar-wise, this is the most successful Norwegian film of all time.

TRIER: In terms of Oscars, yeah. And I think we’re on our way to box office as well. It’s still growing. We’re now almost at the same level of Kon-Tiki [2012], internationally as well. But I think in terms of Oscars, yeah, we’re way beyond. I mean, Norwegians films have, in the past, just been nominated for the international category.

DEADLINE: How do you feel about the comparisons that have been made with Ingmar Bergman, a Swede but perhaps the closest thing to a comparison?

TRIER: Someone told me that Fanny and Alexander [1984] had six nominations, but it gets silly to start comparing myself to Bergman. And please write that! What I will say is that, in my neck of the woods, I feel that it’s a generous thing by the Academy to give love to films from around the world. I also see my friend Kleber [Mendonça Filho, director of The Secret Agent] is getting a lot of attention, and I love his film. And of course, the American films are marvelous this year. So, I’m very happy to see that we’re a big international group. When I was a kid, watching Oscars at night with my parents while I was half asleep, I remember that once in a while there would be Fellini, Bertolucci, Bergman, Bille August, and it made us feel that, hey, the Oscars are about cinema from different countries. And we are very grateful for that attention.

DEADLINE: The international category this year was where it was all happening, with your film, The Secret Agent and Sirāt…

TRIER: Yeah. I’ve been on the road with these people for a little while. There’s been some rounds with awards, and I’m happy to see so many of my colleagues be recognized. It’s kind of a cool feeling. It’s a little bit like a traveling summer camp at this point.

DEADLINE: So, where do you go from here? More campaigning?

TRIER: I presume so. To be quite frank, to not jinx anything, I think we’re all like, “What a joy.” We had an amazing result in Berlin last weekend at the European Film Awards, and we were very grateful for that. And we had our fingers crossed for today. We did not know what to expect, quite frankly. There’s always a lot of predictions going on in all kinds of different directions, and no one knows anything until it happens.

DEADLINE: Well, in the old days, the EFAs would be the consolation prize. For the Oscars, you’d get a nomination in the international category, and that would be the sum of it. It’s a sign of how the Academy is growing, I think.

TRIER: Yeah. But at the same time, Sentimental Value is a film that’s also very inspired by the type of films America used to make when I grew up. The Breakfast Club was actually kind of a drama about real people, and so was Ordinary People, and Kramer vs. Kramer…

My point being that I feel that Sentimental Value is inspired by a type of film that American studios aren’t making so much anymore, and that I’m meeting a lot of colleagues — particularly Stateside — who are saying that they’re glad to see a film being carried by character-driven storytelling, showing the human relational aspects of what cinema can deal with in, terms of empathy and so on.