Oscars 2026: ‘Sentimental Value’ wins ‘Best International Feature’
Joachim Trier’s acclaimed family drama Sentimental Value has won the Oscar for ‘Best International Feature’, marking the first win for Norway in the category after seven nominations.
In a crowded race for ‘Best International Feature’ in which four of the nominated films were distributed by Neon, Sentimental Value took home the coveted prize after amassing an impressive nine nominations, including four acting categories.
While Sentimental Value’s nominations for ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Original Screenplay’, and ‘Best Editing’ suggested it had an advantage, it faced heavy competition from Brazil’s The Secret Agent, which had won the Golden Globe. Other nominees in the category included France’s It Was Just An Accident, Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, and Spain’s Sirat.
The Oscar for ‘Best International Feature’ is handed to the country, not the filmmaker, but the prize still represents a major representation for Trier, who has distinguished himself as one of the most exciting international directors working today.
Trier’s previous film, The Worst Person in the World, which also starred Renata Reinsve, picked up nominations for both ‘Best International Feature’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’ in 2022.
Needless to say, the odds were stacked heavily in Neon’s favour since the company was backing 80% of the field, but Sentimental Value was always considered to be the runaway favourite to claim the prize.
That the Oscars awarded a film that is about an aging filmmaker reflecting on his work isn’t shocking, but Sentimental Value is a poignant, moving story about the qualities that parents pass along to their children.
It’s a film made with an audience of cinephiles in mind, as evidenced by a particularly amusing joke regarding Michael Haneke’s film The Piano Teacher. That being said, Sentimental Value is also one of the many 2025 films that explicitly dealt with the complexities of fatherhood, with other examples being One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme, Hamnet, and Frankenstein.
In a year of turbulent cinema about major existential issues, Sentimental Value is a reminder of cinema’s power to heal. Although these types of more traditional family dramas used to be bread-and-butter for Oscar voters, the victory marks a refreshingly old-fashioned win.
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