Scriptnotes · John August and Craig Mazin

724 - Introductions with Joachim Trier

February 9, 2026·56 min·4 clips

Acclaimed director Joachim Trier reveals how he introduces characters in his Oscar-nominated film Sentimental Value.

John August begins with the basics. He names Scriptnotes, episode 724, and sets up a conversation about how characters and their worlds first reach an audience. Joachim Trier joins with Sentimental Value as the example. August likes the opening sequence, especially the way Nora is already in motion before the audience has fully caught up. The talk stays grounded. Trier describes trust, preparation, and the plain work of helping even small parts feel specific on set. Some of those performers are amateurs, so he gives them names, a little background, and enough conversation that they do not feel stranded as day players. Nora becomes the nerve center. August talks about the audience worrying with her, around her, and for her before the scene turns. The script matters, but the finished film keeps answering back. An unscripted backstage kiss changes the texture, and the chosen location changes what can happen. Trier does not separate writing and directing into two tidy jobs. For him, writing keeps making directing possible. The National Theater opens up the film in a practical way. Late Sunday research with the AD team, production designer, and cinematographer brings floor plans, video, and new options. Trier takes those discoveries back to Eskil for quick redrafts, so the crew's work feeds back into the page. He calls it spatial writing, which sounds clean for something that is clearly a little more alive than that. By the end, the discussion lands on originality and language. Trier's answer is simple: the Norwegian script is the shooting document, except when the finished film uses English, where that English is original too.

As heard by us

A practical look at how a film introduction changes once the page has to meet the room.

This episode works best when Joachim Trier stays close to the practical problem at hand: how a character and a world come into focus without too much explanation.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear Joachim Trier break down how a film opens by introducing Nora, her world, and the audience to both at once.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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