Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud (Beware of Children) and producers Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum at the Oslo-based production company Motlys have won the 2024 Nordic Council Film Prize for their feature film Sex. This marks the second time Haugerud, Sæther, and Motlys have received the prestigious Nordic award, having previously won it in 2020 for Beware of Children (original title: Barn).
Featuring acclaimed Norwegian actors Jan Gunnar Røise (Beware of Children) and Thorbjørn Harr (Beware of Children) in the main roles, Sex is about two friends in heterosexual marriages whose unexpected experiences challenge their perceptions of sexuality, gender and identity.
The film premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year, where it won three awards. It has received critical acclaim, and also won several Amanda awards at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund. Sex is part of a film trilogy by Dag Johan Haugerud, which also includes Dreams and Love, all premiering in 2024.
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The jury praised Sex for its philosophical depth, describing it as a clever comedy that uses sexual experiences as a lens for personal discovery. The film explores the tension between the physical and verbal, suggesting that sex can serve as a refuge from language, though something essential may be lost when analyzed or retold. Set against the backdrop of a constantly changing Oslo, the city’s transformation mirrors the fluidity and instability in the characters’ lives. Haugerud’s script delves into how people feel connected and what happens when their views on intimacy diverge, making Sex a thought-provoking exploration of identity, relationships, and the complexities of human connection.
Watch the international trailer for Sex:
Since 2002, the Nordic Council Film Prize has been awarded to a full-length feature film that has roots in Nordic culture and displays high standards of artistic quality. This year’s winner was announced Tuesday evening in a broadcast TV show by the Icelandic public service company RÚV.
Watch the recording of the Nordic Council Prize Awards 2024:
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The other nominated Nordic films were:
- Fallen Leaves (Finland) by director, screenwriter & producer Aki Kaurismäki, and producers Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff.
- Touch (Iceland) by director, screenwriter & producer Baltasar Kormákur, screenwriter Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, and producer Agnes Johansen
- The Son and the Moon (Denmark) by director & screenwriter Roja Pakari, director Emilie Adelina Monies, screenwriter Denniz Göl Bertelsen, and producer Sara Stockmann.
- Twice Colonized (Greenland) by director & screenwriter Lin Alluna, screenwriter Aaju Peter, and producer Emile Hertling Péronard.
- Crossing (Sweden) by director & screenwriter Levan Akin, and producer Mathilde Dedye.
Nominated films for the 2024 Nordic Council Film Prize:
Previous Winners of the Nordic Council Film Prize
- 2023: Empire (Denmark) by Frederikke Aspöck
- 2022: Lamb (Iceland) by Valdimar Jóhannsson
- 2021: Flee (Denmark) by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
- 2020: Beware of Children (Norway) by Dag Johan Haugerud
- 2019: Queen of Hearts (Denmark) by May el-Toukhy
- 2018: Woman at War (Iceland) by Benedikt Erlingsson
- 2017: Little Wing (Finland) by Selma Vilhunen
- 2016: Louder Than Bombs (Norway) by Joachim Trier
- 2015: Virgin Mountain (Iceland) by Dagur Kári
- 2014: Of Horses and Men (Iceland) by Benedikt Erlingsson
- 2013: The Hunt (Denmark) by Thomas Vinterberg
- 2012: Play (Sweden) by Ruben Östlund
- 2011: Beyond (Sweden) by Pernilla August
- 2010: Submarino (Denmark) by Thomas Vinterberg
- 2009: Antichrist (Denmark) by Lars von Trier
- 2008: You, the Living (Sweden) by Roy Andersson
- 2007: The Art of Crying (Denmark) by Peter Schønau Fog
- 2006: Zozo (Sweden) by Josef Fares
- 2005: Manslaughter (Denmark) by Per Fly
- 2002: The Man Without a Past (Finland) by Aki Kaurismäki
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About the Nordic Council Film Prize
The Nordic Council Film Prize is awarded to a Nordic-produced film of a high artistic quality. It must have had its cinema premiere between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.
The Nordic Council Film Prize was presented for the first time in 2002 and is now awarded annually along with the prizes for literature, children and young people’s literature, music and the environment. Nordisk Film & TV Fond is responsible for the administration of the prize.
Source: The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers Photo credits: Árni Beinteinn and Motlys
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