Norway has selected Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value as its submission for best international feature at the 98th Academy Awards, advancing a Cannes-lauded family drama into this year’s race. The announcement follows a mid-August shortlist that also included Dreams and Facing War.
The film premiered in Cannes competition on May 21 and won the Grand Prix, a historic first for a Norwegian feature, after drawing an extended standing ovation at its debut. Centered on two sisters reconciling with their estranged father, a once-famous filmmaker, the story blends Norwegian and English dialogue and reunites Trier with Renate Reinsve alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning.
Domestic rollout is set for September 12 via Nordisk Film, with a U.S. theatrical release on November 7 from Neon as part of an awards-season push. The selection positions Sentimental Value among early contenders that emerged from the spring festivals, extending momentum from Cannes into the fall corridor.
Norway’s committee choice arrives as countries finalize their entries ahead of the Academy’s calendar. For this cycle, the submission deadline is October 1, the 15-film shortlist is due December 16, and nominations will be revealed January 22. If the film advances, it would add to Norway’s modern record in the category, which includes recent recognition for The Worst Person in the World and earlier nods for Kon-Tiki, Elling, The Other Side of Sunday, The Pathfinder and Nine Lives.
Festival materials emphasize the narrative’s focus on art, memory and repair within a fractured family, themes that have defined Trier’s collaborations with co-writer Eskil Vogt. Early critical notices from Cannes highlighted Skarsgård’s turn as the domineering patriarch and Reinsve’s performance as a daughter navigating loyalty and self-preservation.
