OSLO / LOS ANGELES – Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) made history by winning the Oscar® for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026. This marks the first time a Norwegian feature-length film has won an Academy Award, a milestone celebrated across Norway’s film community. In his acceptance speech, Trier spoke with deep gratitude, reflecting both on the film’s creative journey and its collaborative roots.
“I’m just a film nerd from Norway… Honestly, this means the world to me,” Trier said in his acceptance speech.
Starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in leading roles, with Elle Fanning in a featured role, the film has received extensive global recognition throughout the awards season and has been among the most honoured films of the 2025–26 season, winning the Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, multiple European Film Awards including Best Film, Best Director, and acting prizes for Reinsve and Skarsgård, as well as a Golden Globe for Skarsgård, before culminating in its historic Oscar win for Best International Feature Film.
Norway’s cinematic history at the Academy Awards includes earlier successes in non‑feature categories:
The documentary Kon‑Tiki (1952), chronicling explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s epic Pacific voyage, won the Oscar® for Best Documentary Feature.
The animated short The Danish Poet (2007), directed by Torill Kove and co‑produced by Norwegian collaborators, won the Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film.
Until Sentimental Value, no Norwegian full-length narrative film had ever won an Oscar, although several had been nominated over the decades. Trier’s victory now establishes a new high point in Norway’s cinematic history.
Joachim Trier’s sixth feature tells the story of Nora (Renate Reinsve) and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), whose lives are disrupted when their estranged father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a once-renowned director, reappears and offers Nora the lead role in his comeback film.
Watch the trailer for Sentimental Value:
The film premiered at Cannes on May 21, 2025, where it received a 19-minute standing ovation and won the Grand Prix. It had its domestic premiere in Norway in September 2025.
Norway’s Oscar committee described it as “a film that is exquisitely made in every aspect, but above all moves us deeply,” praising Trier’s “confidence and maturity as a storyteller” and his exploration of “a complex father–daughter relationship”. The film was co-written with Eskil Vogt and produced by Mer Film and Eye Eye Picture.
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OSLO / LOS ANGELES – Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) made history by winning the Oscar® for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026. This marks the first time a Norwegian feature-length film has won an Academy Award, a milestone celebrated across Norway’s film community. In his acceptance speech, Trier spoke with deep gratitude, reflecting both on the film’s creative journey and its collaborative roots.
“I’m just a film nerd from Norway… Honestly, this means the world to me,” Trier said in his acceptance speech.
Starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in leading roles, with Elle Fanning in a featured role, the film has received extensive global recognition throughout the awards season and has been among the most honoured films of the 2025–26 season, winning the Grand Prix at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, multiple European Film Awards including Best Film, Best Director, and acting prizes for Reinsve and Skarsgård, as well as a Golden Globe for Skarsgård, before culminating in its historic Oscar win for Best International Feature Film.
Previous Norwegian Oscar History
Norway’s cinematic history at the Academy Awards includes earlier successes in non‑feature categories:
Until Sentimental Value, no Norwegian full-length narrative film had ever won an Oscar, although several had been nominated over the decades. Trier’s victory now establishes a new high point in Norway’s cinematic history.
Joachim Trier’s sixth feature tells the story of Nora (Renate Reinsve) and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), whose lives are disrupted when their estranged father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a once-renowned director, reappears and offers Nora the lead role in his comeback film.
Watch the trailer for Sentimental Value:
The film premiered at Cannes on May 21, 2025, where it received a 19-minute standing ovation and won the Grand Prix. It had its domestic premiere in Norway in September 2025.
Norway’s Oscar committee described it as “a film that is exquisitely made in every aspect, but above all moves us deeply,” praising Trier’s “confidence and maturity as a storyteller” and his exploration of “a complex father–daughter relationship”. The film was co-written with Eskil Vogt and produced by Mer Film and Eye Eye Picture.
Sources: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® / Oscars® 98th Academy Awards® press materials and Norwegian Film Institute (NFI). Photo Credit: Etienne Laurent and Trae Patton / The Academy ©A.M.P.A.S.
This post/page may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. For details, visit our Affiliate Disclosure page.
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