'Tenderness is the new punk': Joachim Trier on bittersweet dramedy 'Sentimental Value'

(22 May 2025) ASSOCIATED PRESS Cannes, France - 22 May 2025 1. Wide shot press conference begins 2. Medium shot panellists sit down 3. Medium pan participants 4. Wide shot press conference 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Joachim Trier, co-writer/director/executive producer: "We didn't want to make soppy movies and stuff, but we realized through the films we've made that we've grown older and that the world is a tough place and maybe we need, you know, to be vulnerable and show characters that are vulnerable, men and women and everyone else. So I kind of came to the conclusion that, I don't know, tenderness is the new punk. You know, for me, it is. You what I mean? It's like, for me it is, it is what I need right now. I need to come, I need to believe that we can see the other. I need believe that there is a sense of reconciliation, that polarization and anger and machismo isn't the only way forward here. So anyway, not to make any grand statement about that, but that's where we're coming from with this one." 6. Medium shot Eskil Vogt, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Joachim Trier 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Renate Reinsve, actor: "The emotional weight that is in this movie is handled with so much care. I think it's then safe to go in and really immerse yourself into the work and by that, you really get some realizations in your own life. And also the biggest experiences I've had in my life is seeing a movie or seeing some artwork that really touches on something I do not understand. And even though I see it, I cannot articulate it, but it's given me less loneliness in return or I've learned something new that I cannot even articulate and that's the power I think of this movie." 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Elle Fanning, actor: "Yes, I was the only American on the team, but I was so welcomed and Joachim, I mean, he works with his family, like in a sense his family and his friends and you can feel that tight-knit bond and everyone was just so kind and welcoming." (Moderator: "What kind of director's actor is he?") "Well, I, like, I think everyone, I was such a fan of 'The Worst Person in the World' and you know, you kind of dream up a bucket list or kind of think of directors that you would love to work with and Joachim was on that list, on my list for sure. And we were rehearsing the scenes in the house and doing rehearsal scenes of rehearsal scenes. So I would have my prop script and then my real script right next to each other. And I was like, how do I annotate my scripts? Let me try to bring that in. And we worked with props to make that right. And the environment he creates is such a safe space to just be open. And he is there looking at you and seeing you and right next to the camera and just getting things out of you that you didn't even know were inside of yourself. It's like you're surprising yourself every day. And so it was unbelievably creatively fulfilling." 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Stellan Skarsgård, actor/executive producer: "I've seen his films and I felt well, when is he going to call me? Because I felt that he has something - he can, I wanted to work with him and he can get something out of me that maybe someone else can't. And he called me and came to Stockholm and we met. And he showed me this beautiful script, which was, it's so much when you're an older man who's in the film business and have a lot of kids, this is perfect for you." 10. Wide shot press conference 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Stellan Skarsgård, actor/executive producer: (Moderator: "Did you model your character on some directors that you met?") "No comment." 12. Medium shot Elle Fanning Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...