Bates Film Festival – Sentimental Value

dir. Joachim Trier
133 min. 2025

The Bates Film Festival is a Maine-based gathering where students and attendees engage in civic-minded conversations and experience thought-provoking movies in community. The 2026 BFF will focus on the arts and how their representation in film brings individuals together, promotes mutual respect and understanding, and heightens civic engagement.

All events are free and open to the public in order to welcome a broader audience. Our festival is unique in that it is organized and programmed by Bates College students under the direction of Professor Jon Cavallero.

Sentimental Value (dir. Joachim Trier, 2025)

Sentimental Value follows sisters Nora and Agnes as they reunite with their estranged filmmaker father Gustav, and grapple with the aftermath of their mother’s death. Gustav has written a script with a role in mind for Nora, who wants nothing to do with the film. The film explores family pain and generational struggles and asks whether creating art can help heal the past. (Written by Ava Elghanayan, ’26)

Awards: Academy Award, Best International Feature Film; BAFTA Award, Best Film Not in the English Language; British Independent Film Awards, Best International Independent Film; Golden Globe, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.