International titles were not only present but dominant across the categories this morning as the 98th Oscar nominations were announced, led by historic hauls from Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent.
In total, Sentimental Value clocked 9 nominations, trailing only Hollywood awards season heavyweights Sinners, One Battle after Another, Frankenstein, and Marty Supreme. In a sign of the Norwegian film’s popularity with the Academy, Trier landed a Best Director nomination, edging out three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, who had been tipped for a nomination in the category. The record for most nominations for an international title is 13, currently held by Emilia Perez.
An even bigger coup for Sentimental Value was the surprising Best Supporting Actor nomination for Stellan Skarsgård. The nomination marks Skarsgård’s first Oscar nod and is the first time an actor in a film not in the English language has been nominated in the category. Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas also received acting nominations. For context, Trier’s last film, The Worst Person In The World, landed only two Oscar nominations for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay. At the time, the two nominations were seen as a coup for Trier, who had been a favorite on the European festival circuit for some time. With nine, the filmmaker cements himself as a director who can create work with serious crossover appeal, in the mould of Bong Joon Ho.
Wagner Moura became the first Brazilian actor to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent. With Lilleaas, Reinsve, Skarsgård, and Moura, this year marks a new record of four Oscar-nominated performances not in the English language. The previous record of three was set in 1976 by Marie-Christine Barrault, Giancarlo Giannini, and Liv Ullmann.
The Secret Agent also landed a Best Picture nomination, alongside Sentimental Value. The two films are the 12th and 13th non-English language films to be nominated for both International Feature Film and Best Picture in the same year. Parasite is still the only film to win both International Feature Film and Best Picture.
With The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value booming through awards season, the Cannes Film Festival can once again reaffirm its position as the premier launchpad for international titles, with both films receiving their debut festival runs on the Croisette.
Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt also debuted in Cannes and landed two nominations this morning for Best International Feature Film and Sound. The enigmatic feature has become a surprise awards season contender, and with today’s nominations becomes the first all-women sound team to be nominated for a sound award.
Elsewhere, Japanese historical drama Kokuho landed a Makeup and Hairstyling nomination alongside Norwegian Black comedy The Ugly Stepsister, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain picked up an Animation nod, Mr Nobody Against Putin was handed a nod in Best Documentary, and Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident is in for Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.
This year’s Oscars will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 15.
