Norwegian films had nabbed a record 11 Oscar nominations heading into this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday. Only one yielded an Oscar, but officials back home still called it “a landmark moment for Norwegian cinema.”
The winner was Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi in Norwegian), hailed as Best International Feature film. It had already won nine nominations for everything from Best Director (Joachim Trier) and Best Actress (Renate Reinsve), to Best Picture overall. It also had won major prizes already, from when it was shown at the Cannes International Film Festival last year to the Golden Globes and Britain’s BAFTA prize for best international film.
It was also the first time a Norwegian film had won so many top nominations instead of just those reserved for films made outside Hollywood. Kjersti Mo, chief executive of the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI), thus opted to call all the nominations and the Best International Film Oscar “historic.” NFI, a public institution operating under the authority of the government’s Ministry of Culture, also views the prize as “enormous recognition of the filmmakers behind the film and of an extraordinary artistic collaboration.”
The film depicted dramatic dynamics in a Norwegian family involved in both theater and film, and was shot on location in Oslo. That made it popular with local audiences and put Oslo on the map once again as a destination for film fans. The neighbourhood and not least the restaurant (Lorry), where Reinsve and the actor playing her father, Stellan Skarsgård (nominated for Best Supporting Actor) had an emotional meeting, have since been visited by fans from all over the world.
Director Joachim Trier, who won international recognition long ago, had already claimed he was “incredibly grateful” for all the praise his latest film had won. He told news bureau NTB that he hadn’t expected to be back at the Academy Awards for the second time in four years: He also directed the Oscar-nominated film Verdens verste menneske (The Worst Person in the World) in 2022, which also starred Reinsve).
Trier said it means a lot just to be nominated, because “directors vote for directors, actors for actors … so that’s an enormous pat on the shoulder” in itself. In his acceptance speech, he cited American author James Baldwin and stressed a message in his film, about how important it is for all adults to recognize and take care of children.
Trier won applause when he warned against politicians who don’t put children’s interests first, referring to those who live with war and conflict several places around the world. Baldwin, he said, “makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children, and let’s not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously into account.”
That made an impression on Norway’s own prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, who sent his congratulations and invited Trier and his film team to his residence when they come home “so we can celebrate.” Støre also said he liked Trier’s speech, telling Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that he viewed it as message to authoritarian leaders: “He (Trier) is the father of small children himself, and spoke of how important it is to take care of our children.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
