Bryce Dessner, the Cincinnati-born Grammy Award-winning composer and musician and co-founder of indie rock band The National, has been nominated for an Academy Award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for its 98th annual Oscars on Thursday. Dessner, along with Australian musician Nick Cave, was nominated for Best Original Song for “Train Dreams” in the Netflix period drama of the same name. Dessner composed the film’s score, as well.
“[Dessner’s] nomination underscores the global reach of artists shaped in this region and highlights Cincinnati’s influence on the international creative landscape,” Film Cincinnati said in a press release following the announcement, adding he’s become one of the most sought-after composers in contemporary music.
Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley and starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones, is based on a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson and follows the life of Robert Grainier (Edgerton) as he works the land in the early 20th century, helping build the country’s future. The story’s told against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, the landscape of which played a big role in the score’s creation, said Dessner.
“I wanted to explore all those sounds and the poetry of the filmmaking. Also, a lot of [the film] is silent; a lot of the film has very little dialogue. It’s very much immersed in the environment so that just the sweep of the forest, the sense of the earth were really important for me in the music,” Dessner said during an interview with Netflix.
Train Dreams was the fourth film Dessner has worked on with the film’s director and co-writer Bentley and co-writer Greg Kwedar, having also co-composed the scores for Transpecos (2016) and Jockey (2021) with his brother and fellow The National founder, Aaron Dessner, as well as composed the score for Sing Sing (2023).
Other songs nominated for Best Original Song include “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless, “I Lied to You” from Sinners and “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi!
The 2026 Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, and you can watch on ABC and Hulu. You can stream Train Dreams on Netflix now and listen to the song here or below:
