Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier says his Oscar-nominated feature Sentimental Value has emerged from a deeply personal creative space.

The relationship drama, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in May last year, marks Trier and his long-time collaborator Eskil Vogt’s return after their 2021 film The Worst Person in the World.

The new film revolves around the strained relationship between an ageing filmmaker and his two daughters — a homemaker and an actor.

The film is nominated in nine categories at the Academy Awards, including best picture, best international feature, best director for Trier, best actress, best supporting actress, best supporting actor, best original screenplay and cinematography.

"This is my sixth, written with Eskil Vogt, my co-writer. I come from a place where all my films are developed in a space where we have creative control and we make personal movies. We don't make them to aim for a commercial genre or something like that,” Trier told PTI.

“I grew up with films of Lars von Trier and Pedro Almodovar and people that made personal films from their culture. And I'm very grateful that I'm allowed to work this freely in the language, which is very expensive,” he added.

Also known for Reprise, Oslo, August 31st, Louder Than Bombs and Thelma, Trier said very few Norwegian films travel internationally. He said while he hoped Sentimental Value would connect with audiences beyond Norway, its global reception has surprised him.

Currently streaming on MUBI India, the film reunites Trier with his The Worst Person in the World actors Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie. The cast also includes Stellan Skarsgard, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning, Jesper Christensen, Lena Endre and Cory Michael Smith.

The story revolves around Gustav (Skarsgard), an aging filmmaker who returns to Norway to make a film about his troubled childhood but attempts to reconnect with his daughters Nora (Reinsve) and Agnes (Lilleaas) after being absent for most of their lives.

Trier said the film explores whether fractured family relationships can reach a “good enough” stage, even if complete resolution remains elusive.

“People are sharing stories of being siblings, a brother, a sister, a parent and a child. I'm a father now with two small children. And (there is) the ongoing questioning of inherited grief or trauma from history, family, and how do I become a border and protect my children from the transference, which ultimately I won't be able to control. So many things in family life are transferred without the social language of speaking,” he said.