World
‘Sentimental Value’ Writing Duo Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt Still ‘Keep the Marriage Happy’: ‘He’s My Longest Relationship’
It wasn’t love at first sight for longtime collaborators Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, who met when they were both in their late teens.
“We were both camera assistants, taking care of the cables on a quiz show in Norway. Joachim was still skating and wearing the biggest pants I’d ever seen. They were as wide as they were tall. I was the black jeans and Dr. Martens type, so I was skeptical,” laughs Vogt, who co-wrote “Sentimental Value” with Trier.
Then they started talking about films.
“Suddenly, there was someone who’s seen more Fellini films than I had, and I had Hal Hartley films on VHS he wanted to borrow. This was the first time I met someone who shared my dream of making films, and that made the dream more tangible and real,” says Vogt.
Six features later, they are much more similar now, says Trier. Their way of working hasn’t really changed — they still start with ideas and develop the plot later on.
“We know it would be easier the other way around, but we still think of the plot quite late. Instead, we put notes up on the board and say: ‘Oh, I love this scene.’ And then we try to keep most of our darlings,” explains Vogt.
Trier agrees: “We don’t construct the story until very late. Instead of having scenes I don’t want to shoot and we don’t want to write, we try to make sure none of them just ‘tells the story.’ They all have to be about the characters or [present us] with an exciting visual situation.”
“We still have a phase when we entertain a lot of ideas, but we come to the core of it quicker now. I think we’re more honest with ourselves — and about what we want. We also have this silly rule that we shouldn’t think too much about production limitations and money when we write. When I become the director again, it bites me in the ass.”
How do they keep it fresh?
“I think we don’t,” laughs Vogt.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on when you make and release films, and we both like to go back to that safe space and rediscover that calm where it’s just our two voices. We are fortunate enough that our films generate more and more noise that we have to shut out, so when we work, we make it personal and small again.”
Following the success of 2021’s “The Worst Person in the World,” which earned them an Academy Award nomination for original screenplay — it also scored an Oscar nomination for international feature — expectations were high. Then again, they always are.
“Every film feels like that. The first one, ‘Reprise,’ was quite successful, so ‘Oslo, August 31st’ was made out of panic: ‘Let’s do what we want now, before we don’t sell out’,” says Trier with a laugh. “’Worst Person’ was this fun film that generated a lot of attention and we knew we were going to put [“Sentimental Value”’”] into a climate of expectation. We used that panic and that energy to go deep into something we cared about.”
In the film, which scored Grand Prix at Cannes, two sisters reunite with their absentee father, a movie director who wants to make a film about their family. It stars Stellan Skarsgård, “Worst Person” breakout star Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who seems to be on the same trajectory as Reinsve in terms of global recognition for her performance.
“A few months into that process, we thought: ‘We’re going to lose some of the people who loved ‘Worst Person’ for being so young and exuberant,’” says Vogt. Fast forward to November and the film is being embraced by an even younger audience and “spreading on TikTok,” says Trier with a hint of irony.
Their friendship allows them to get “very intimate and very personal super quickly” when they write.
“When I write alone, I procrastinate. When I’m procrastinating with Joachim, even if I haven’t done anything, at least I got to spend a day with my friend,” says Vogt. Trier adds: “It took me a long time to create a real family outside of art. I have one now, but Eskil is my longest relationship outside of my parents. We don’t need to be silly romantic about it, but we have to be honest: it’s a real gift.”
Trier continues: “If you look at our filmography, it becomes apparent we’ve been tracing the development of our life stages. I don’t think we could have made ‘Sentimental Value’ earlier in our collaboration.”
They say their relationship is “like every old marriage,” but having an open relationship isn’t an option just yet.
“I think we get enough excitement with other collaborators to keep the marriage happy,” says Trier.
“Eskil has always told me: ‘If you want to write with someone else, it’s OK’ We have those tough conversations, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I still call him during the shoot, so he’s used to me working with others and doing my own thing, and he allows that. I’m also happy to see Eskil making his own films without me at all.”
Vogt, who directed “The Innocents,” adds: “Maybe it would be interesting for you to make a film without me involved…”
“…And see how shitty I really am,” deadpans Trier. “I come from a family of artists — I love the team thing. Eskil can write alone — I would hate that. We get annoyed with each other, but that’s life: there’s still love at the end of the day. So, you know, touch wood. I hope it continues.”
MOUNT VERNON, Va. (AP) — The people who were about to become United States citizens sat in folding chairs on George Washington’s lawn at Mount Vernon on Saturday, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence.
The sun beat down and the well-dressed crowd was a flutter of paddle fans stamped with American flags. Their families clung to the shade of the trees on either side, where one woman had two American flags stuck through her ponytail.
“Well, good morning, everybody,” said Anne Neal Petri, the regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
“Good morning!” an excited crowd returned.
“And Happy Birthday, United States of America!” exclaimed Petri.
There were 150 people from 50 globe-spanning countries sitting in front of the small stage as they prepared to be sworn in as U.S. citizens on the July Fourth holiday and America’s 250th birthday. Among them was U.S. Marine Sgt. Diakaria Sangare from Guinea, who attended in his pressed Dress Blue uniform with three medals pinned to his left breast.
Sangare had served two deployments, and, like all assembled, had gone through the long citizenship process: The test, interviews, green cards and biometrics. Others in the crowd, it was said, came from countries bathed in violence. Some fled persecution.
After a speech about Washington, the crowd was asked to rise for the national anthem.
They did. Their hats came off and their hands covered their hearts. The paddle fans calmed.
The singer belted the words: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” — as Sangare held his right hand in a rigid salute, his face sober.
As the song concluded, the soon-to-be citizens clapped and returned to their seats, while another speaker asked them to stand and remain standing when their country was called.
“Albania.”
A woman in the front row with long black hair rose with a broad grin, a small U.S. flag in her hand.
“Bangladesh.”
A man in a black shirt stood. The Albanian woman, looking back, beamed at him.
It went on for 50 countries, through China and El Salvador and Iraq and Mongolia, as people stood, sometimes smiling, sometimes sedate.
At “Morocco,” a man in the back thrusts his fists in the air in support. A young boy looked up at him and then did the same, a little flag in his fist.
Then the crowd, with hands raised, recited an Oath of Allegiance, not so different from the oath Washington signed in 1778.
“Congratulations,” they were told. “You just became U.S. citizens.”
There was applause and laughter, then the Pledge of Allegiance. Sangare, his hand now over his heart, closed his eyes for a moment.
Nearby stood a tulip poplar tree, planted at Washington’s direction 250 years ago, that had lived through America’s history.
The next speaker, historian Douglas Bradburn, pointed it out in his speech before the day’s special guest.
“All the stories that are part of you, now become American stories,” said Bradburn. “When people ask me what are American people like, I now can talk about you, and your stories.”
“The second side of that is that, now, all America’s stories, and our history, are your stories. The father of your country is George Washington.”
The first president, it turned out, was the next speaker.
As he was introduced, the re-enactor stood by a massive draped American flag, a sword scabbard on his hip. Then he donned the stage, doffed his cap to the audience, and began to speak.
“Today the name of ‘American’ belongs to you every bit as much as it does to me,” he said. He spoke to their arduous journeys to this point and their histories, now merged with America.
“So, my fellow Americans, to you, I say simply: ‘Welcome home’.”
Afterward, Sangare, the U.S. Marine, posed for a portrait, hands clasped in front of him, holding the American flag paddle fan, his Marine cap slightly askew.
“I just became a United States citizen,” he said, his emotions pushing out in an earnest smile.
____ Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas.
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Tens of thousands of far-left protesters flooded the streets and clashed with police in the Germany city of Erfurt on Saturday as they protested the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Videos showed police beating back agitators with batons and deploying anti-riot ordnance as the demonstrators chanted against the country’s conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a massive political rally.
Police said over 30,000 people attended the demonstrations, according to the Associated Press (AP), and people could be seen carrying signs reading “Stop AfD Nazis” and “For Diversity, Against Nazis.”
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Despite the tense clashes caught on video, police told news outlets the demonstrations have been “mostly peaceful,” and claimed they’ve recorded approximately 100 law violations, mostly due to graffiti.
The standoff in the city of Erfurt, Thuringia state, comes as the opposition Alternative for Germany party is soaring in national opinion polls ahead of all other parties. (RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP via Getty Images)
The protests coincided with AfD’s party conference and leadership elections during which the party, the second largest parliamentary group in Germany’s Bundestag parliament, re-elected Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla as the party co-leaders.
The mass demonstrations delayed AfD’s vote, prompting Chrupalla to criticize the method in which agitators expressed their dissatisfaction.
Thousands of demonstrators flooded a German city on July 4, 2026, blocking major roads and disrupting public transport, in a bid to shut down the annual congress of the conservative AfD party. (RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP via Getty Images)
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“There are no peaceful seated blockades. There are no democratic roadblocks. Nor are there any gangs of thugs who deserve the harmless label ‘civil society.’ These troublemakers are the last resort of our political rivals,” Chrupalla said, according to the AP.
Protesters gather before a party convention of Alternative for Germany, or AfD in Erfurt, Germany, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Chrupalla also accused the protesters of acting anti-democratically. “They believe they have a monopoly on democracy. To these demonstrators I say: this democracy is just as much our democracy as it is yours.”
A spokesperson for local antifascist group widersetzen explicitly claimed that the group’s intention was to block AfD’s party convention.
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“The AfD pursues fascist policies: It wants mass deportations and terror on the streets. At the same time, however, it doesn’t solve a single real problem,” widersetzen spokesperson Lena Raupach told the AP. “It pursues policies that benefit the rich, not ordinary citizens. And we at widersetzen want a society in which all people have equal opportunities and equal security. We want a society based on solidarity.”
AfD, while fighting accusations of extremism from citizens and center-left and center-right politicians in the country’s ruling coalition, rejects the notion that it is extreme, arguing it is “being used as a political instrument by mainstream parties,” according to the AP.
The party has been experiencing a historic surge in popularity in recent years, grabbing over 20% of the national vote in federal elections in 2025 with an eye on capturing even more in the next election. Some federal polls have the party ranked as the most popular in the country today.
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“We will win. Maybe we’ll be able to govern alone soon,” Chrupalla said Saturday. “That would send the right message to the enemies of democracy out there who wanted to prevent our party convention from taking place.”
Partygoers widely support the conservative moment fashioned by President Donald Trump and the party shares similar stances on social, cultural and domestic issues as the Trump administration, particularly on immigration. Perhaps inspired by Trump’s trademark slogan, one party conference attendee Saturday could be seen sporting a “Make Germany Great Again” hat.
A man is wearing a “Make Germany Great Again” cap at the convention center. The AfD’s national party convention will take place on July 4 and 5 at the Erfurt Convention Center. (Martin Schutt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The Italian government is sounding the alarm after 80 vials of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to one hundred times more powerful than morphine, were stolen from Rome’s Israelitic Hospital.
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The missing quantity would be enough to produce up to around 20,000 doses potentially destined for illicit use, which in countries such as the United States and Canada has become a national emergency.
Fentanyl is used legally in medicine as an anaesthetic and to treat severe pain, including in cancer patients. But taking this “party anaesthetic” for non-medical purposes has devastating effects. As little as 3 milligrams of the “zombie drug” (as it is known when mixed with xylazine) are enough to kill a person.
In Italy too, its growing spread on the illegal drug market has raised public health concerns, leading to a “National prevention plan against the improper use of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids” presented in March 2024 by the Anti-Drugs Policy Department of the Prime Minister’s Office.
How the fentanyl theft unfolded
The head of the hospital pharmacy reported the theft on 24 June. What is striking is the absence of any sign of forced entry on the safe where the vials were kept, the keys to which are held by several members of staff.
Prosecutors in Rome have opened an investigation. An initial report on the incident has been sent to the criminal court of the capital. The inquiries have been entrusted to the Carabinieri’s NAS unit. The case concerns allegations of theft and possession with intent to supply narcotic substances.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Health – at the instigation of Minister Schillaci – has launched an inspection through its competent offices. The ministry is also preparing “a new circular to further step up checks on the improper use and circulation of fentanyl and on how it is stored in medical and hospital facilities”.
The government’s response
The theft prompted an emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi, chaired by undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano. During the meeting “the need to ensure compliance with the procedures laid down for the management of high-risk medicines, in order to protect public health and prevent similar incidents from happening again” was reiterated.
“In the coming days,” it was explained, “the monitoring committee on the implementation of the anti-fentanyl plan will be reconvened at Palazzo Chigi, with the aim of ensuring that all the parties involved put in place the necessary safeguards and controls”.
Meanwhile, the Lazio Region has ordered an extraordinary inspection visit to Rome’s Israelitic Hospital to check how the hospital pharmacy manages narcotic drugs.
At the same time, it “announces that it has instructed the territorially competent local health authorities to verify the proper management of narcotic drugs in the region’s various hospitals, thereby extending the control measures to the entire regional territory so as to guarantee the highest safety standards”.
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