Joachim Trier

Joachim Trier seemed destined for a career in cinema. Not only did he inherit an attachment to the industry from his father and grandfather, a sound technician and director respectively, but he applied his love of movies to everything from his youthful fascination with skateboarding to his education to his ultimate path in life. Trier's feature films, "Reprise" (2006), "Oslo, August 31st" (2011), and "Louder Than Bombs" (2015) showcased the sort of love of movies that fuels longstanding adherence to the industry. Joachim Trier was born in 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark to Norwegian parents and raised in Oslo, Norway. His boyhood fixation on shooting skateboarding videos ultimately translated to an interest in a bona fide filmmaking career. Trier likewise inherited such interests from his father Jacob Trier, a film sound technician. He pursued this passion in earnest in 1995, enrolling for one year at European Film College in Denmark. In 1997, Trier began his studies at the exclusive National Film and Television School in England; at age 23, he was one of the youngest students in attendance at the institution. Following graduation, Trier began writing and directing his own projects, the earliest of which were dramatic short films "Still" (2001) and "Procter" (2002). His first feature-length movie was the existential character piece "Reprise" (2006), which earned Trier attention at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival in 2006 and 74th New York Film Critics Circle Awards in 2008. Trier followed "Reprise" with another dense character piece, "Oslo, August 31st" (2011), which shifted the thematic focus to drug addiction and recovery. The picture got Trier notice at the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival, though did not manage to win him the coveted Un Certain Regard Award. With his next project, Trier expanded his reach across the Atlantic, working with American stars like Jesse Eisenberg and Amy Ryan, as well as internationally renowned European actors Gabriel Byrne and Isabelle Huppert. The film, titled "Louder Than Bombs" (2015), focused on the struggles of a man and his two sons in the wake of their wife and mother's death.