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Oscars: Norway Submits Joachim Trier’s ‘The Worst Person In The World’ To International Feature Race

Nancy Tartaglione
·2 min read

Norway has selected Joachim Trier’s Cannes hit The Worst Person In The World as its submission to the Oscars’ International Feature Film category. The choice was made by the Norwegian Oscar Committee which had earlier shortlisted three pictures, opting for Trier’s third installment of the Oslo Trilogy which the committee believes “has a unique opportunity to reach all the way to an Oscar for best international film.”

Committee chief, Kjersti Mo, who is also Director of the Norwegian Film Institute, called the movie a “tribute to film art in the form of a drama comedy that conveys deep seriousness with playful lightness and elegance.” This is Trier’s third time repping his home country.

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The Worst Person In The World debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in July, winning the Best Actress prize for lead Renate Reinsve. It later went on to play myriad festivals including Karlovy Vary, Toronto, New York and London. Neon acquired North American rights out of Cannes. MUBI has the UK.

The story centers on Reinsve’s Julie, a spirited 30-year-old who has everything going for her. But she’s also experiencing growing disenchantment with a long-time serious boyfriend (Anders Danielsen Lie). At loose ends, Julie aimlessly wanders around the city on a beautiful summer evening and quietly crashes a wedding party in full progress. Encountering Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), they start flirting in funny intoxicated ways. But the good times begin to wane and with the passing of time and opportunities comes a sense of missed chances and mistakes resulting in a potent melancholy.

In Norway, The Worst Person In The World has sold over 85K tickets while in France it’s done more than 100K admissions. MK2 has international sales.

The Norwegian shortlist also included Eirik Svensson’s Betrayed and Yngvild Sve Flikke’s Ninjababy.

Norwegian films have received five nominations in the International race, including Kon-Tiki (2013), Elling (2001), Søndagsengler (1996), Veiviseren (1987) and Ni Liv (1957). Last year, Hope made the shortlist as did The King’s Choice in 2016.

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