The Nordic night of glory
By Anders Lorenzen
Joachim Trier accepts the Oscar with the cast. Photo: Trae Patton, The Academy.
Regular readers of this column will know that I had high hopes for the Nordic region to take home an Oscar at last month’s Academy Awards. But that it was to take home two surpassed even my most optimistic scenarios.
When I checked the results of the world’s most prestigious film awards, I would have been surprised if the Norwegian film Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) had not won Best International Film. The Academy did not disappoint, awarding the prize to the highly acclaimed film by Norwegian–Danish filmmaker Joachim Trier.
More surprising, perhaps, was the win for the Danish-produced documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin. Directed by Copenhagen-based American filmmaker David Borenstein, the film was produced by Made in Copenhagen alongside veteran Danish producer Helle Faber. The film was also Denmark’s official submission for this year’s Academy Awards in the Best International Film category, although it was not shortlisted. Instead, its quiet but unsettling portrait of a Russian schoolteacher documenting state propaganda struck a chord with the documentary board, ultimately securing the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
Helle Faber poses with the Oscar. Photo: Richard Harbaugh, The Academy.
Meanwhile, the Oscar for Sentimental Value adds to its growing number of accolades, which also includes the Grand Prize of the Festival at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe win. So far, the film has picked up 70 wins and 302 nominations! An impressive achievement, even considering the film’s star cast of top-level Nordic actors, including Swedish veteran Stellan Skarsgård, Denmark’s Jesper Christensen and Hollywood star Elle Fanning.
Unsurprisingly, the award was met with considerable enthusiasm in Norway, where the film industry views it as an important step towards the international recognition long enjoyed by its Scandinavian neighbours. As put by Morten Ståle Nilsen, a film and TV critic for the Norwegian newspaper VG: “We have long lived in the shadow of more ‘mature’ movie nations like Sweden and, in more recent times, Denmark. Last night, we climbed out of that shadow.”
For UK-based readers, Mr Nobody Against Putin can be streamed on BBC iPlayer and Sentimental Value on the streaming platform Mubi.
Anders Lorenzen is a Danish blogger and film and TV enthusiast living in London.
SHARE
Requests to commercially license our content for republishing are now being processed through PLSclear. Please visit www.plsclear.com to complete your permission request. You can search PLSclear by title, ISBN/ISSN, author, or keyword.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Receive our monthly newsletter by email
