“Filmmakers from all over the world have been telling us all week that they’ve never seen an audience as amazing as you,” Karel Och complimented the audience in the Grand Hall. As a reward, he introduced Sentimental Value, the latest film by Joachim Trier and winner of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The emotionally resonant family drama was presented at KVIFF by two of its lead actors, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Stellan Skarsgård. “Working with Joachim was a dream come true. I knew he was a great director, and I quickly realized he’s an equally wonderful person. With him, actors feel both safe and free,” said Lilleaas in praise of Trier, who began his international career at KVIFF – winning Best Director here in 2006 for his debut Reprise.
Stellan Skarsgård returned to Karlovy Vary after twenty-three years. “But that wasn’t my first brush with Czech culture. Right after the curtain fell, I arrived in Prague and met Václav Marhoul, then head of Barrandov Studios. We drank a lot of beer together, and Václav claims we ran into four drunks, got into a fight, and won. But honestly – I find that story highly unrealistic,” the Swedish actor joked, earning laughter from the audience.
He went on to say that Sentimental Value is a project that means a great deal to him, and praised the cast he worked with. “Good acting is about collaboration. You feed off each other. I could never have given this performance without my co-stars,” said Skarsgård, who plays a filmmaker trying to rebuild a broken relationship with his daughters.
