Sentimental Value dominates Norway’s Amanda Awards with eight wins

Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) dominated the 42nd Amanda Awards, held on Saturday 22 August at Haugesund’s Festiviteten Concert Hall. The ceremony took place on the opening day of the 54th Norwegian International Film Festival, was hosted by Vegard Larsen and Linnea Myhre, and was broadcast on NRK.

Celebrating films that had their Norwegian premieres between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, the Amandas are organised annually as part of the Haugesund festival. This year, they crowned Sentimental Value in eight categories. The film won Best Norwegian Film for producers Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar; Best Director for Trier; Best Screenplay for Trier and Eskil Vogt; Best Performance in a Supporting Role for Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas; Best Cinematography for Kasper Tuxen Andersen; Best Editing for Olivier Bugge Coutté; Best Production Design for Jørgen Stangebye Larsen; and Best Makeup Design for Trine Morland.

The Amanda sweep rounds off a historic international run for Trier’s drama. After winning the Grand Prix at Cannes and six European Film Awards, the pic became the first Norwegian production to take the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Its nine Oscar nominations were also a record for a Norwegian film. At home, Sentimental Value recorded around 250,000 admissions in 2025.

The film is produced by Ekerhovd for Mer Film and Berentsen Ottmar for Eye Eye Pictures, and is top-financed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Meanwhile, Pia Tjelta received Best Performance in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Eva in Nina Knag’s Don’t Call Me Mama (Se meg), earning her second Amanda. The performance had already brought Tjelta the Best Actress Award at Karlovy Vary last year.

Anna Drakopoulou Sverrisdóttir was named Newcomer of the Year for Brightly Shining (Stargate – en julefortelling), which also earned Alva Brosten the award for Best Costume Design. Two further films collected two prizes apiece. Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken’s A Mouse Hunt for Christmas (Hvis ingen går i fella), Norway’s most-watched film of 2025 with more than 450,000 admissions, won Best Children’s Film and Best Visual Effects. Rally from Paris to the Pyramids (Flåklypa – fra Paris til pyramidene) took Best Sound Design for Johannes Dekko and Best Original Score for Ola Kvernberg. All three supported by NFTVF.

The People’s Amanda, decided by an online public vote, went to Daniel Fahre’s Second World War drama The Battle of Oslo (Blücher), another of 2025’s major Norwegian box-office successes. Monica Strømdahl’s Flophouse America was named Best Documentary, whilst Aasne Vaa Greibrokk’s Fata Morgana won Best Short Film. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, distributed in Norway by Warner Bros. Discovery, received Best Foreign Language Film.

The Amanda Committee’s Honorary Award went to actor Per Christian Ellefsen, best known to Norwegian audiences for his title role in the Elling trilogy. The award coincides with the 25th anniversary of the first Elling film, for which Ellefsen received an Amanda nomination in 2001.

The Golden Clapper, the committee’s honorary industry award, was shared by casting directors Mette Holme Nielsen and Jannecke Bervell. The committee highlighted their role in developing and professionalising casting in Norway over careers spanning more than three decades.

Full list of Amanda Awards 2026:

Best Norwegian Film: Sentimental Value (director: Joachim Trier; producers: Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar)
Best Director: Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value
Best Performance in a Leading Role: Pia Tjelta for Don’t Call Me Mama
Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value
Newcomer of the Year: Anna Drakopoulou Sverrisdóttir for Brightly Shining
Best Documentary: Flophouse America (director: Monica Strømdahl; producers: Siri Natvik and Beathe Hofseth)
Best Children’s Film: A Mouse Hunt for Christmas (director: Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken; producers: Martin Sundland, Thea B. Kevin Karlsen and Tor Markus Iden)
Best Short Film: Fata Morgana (director: Aasne Vaa Greibrokk; producer: Ragna Nordhus Midtgard)
Best Foreign Language Film: One Battle After Another (director: Paul Thomas Anderson; Norwegian distributor: Warner Bros. Discovery)
Best Screenplay: Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value
Best Cinematography: Kasper Tuxen Andersen for Sentimental Value
Best Editing: Olivier Bugge Coutté for Sentimental Value
Best Sound Design: Johannes Dekko for Rally from Paris to the Pyramids
Best Original Score: Ola Kvernberg for Rally from Paris to the Pyramids
Best Costume Design: Alva Brosten for Brightly Shining
Best Makeup Design: Trine Morland for Sentimental Value
Best Production Design: Jørgen Stangebye Larsen for Sentimental Value
Best Visual Effects: Fredrik Fottland, Andreas Hylander, Jonas Larsen and Simon Jansson for A Mouse Hunt for Christmas
The People’s Amanda: The Battle of Oslo (director: Daniel Fahre; producer: Knut Inge Solbu)
The Amanda Committee’s Honorary Award: Per Christian Ellefsen
The Amanda Committee’s Golden Clapper: Mette Holme Nielsen and Jannecke Bervell