Canadian Premiere
Two chimney sweeps, both happily partnered in heterosexual marriages, find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by a series of unexpected events. The company supervisor (Thorbjorn Harr) has a recurring dream where he’s seen as a woman. His employee (Jan Gunnar Roise), meanwhile, has a sexual encounter with a male client who casually propositions him after a job. Both events exert pressure on the men’s personal lives, but neither results in any sort of gay panic or masculine bravado—just a reflective, searching interest in heretofore unexplored aspects of their identity.
The first in a projected trilogy by Norwegian writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud, Sex—the other two films are to be titled Dreams and Love—is a frank exploration of normative social expectations in contemporary Oslo. Playfully structured as a series of sharply scripted two-hander conversations, the film is at once dryly humorous and unexpectedly poignant: a testament to the regions of experience that would open up, if only we would talk about them.
Ecumenical Jury Award, Berlin 2024
Dag Johan Haugerud
Jan Gunnar Røise, Thorbjørn Harr, Siri Forberg, Birgitte Larsen
Norway
2024
In Norwegian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Yngve Sæther, Hege Hauff Hvattum
Screenwriter
Dag Johan Haugerud
Cinematography
Cecilie Semec
Editor
Jens Christian Fodstad
Production Design
Tuva Hølmebakk
Original Music
Peder Capjon Kjellsby
Dag Johan Haugerud
Dag Johan Haugerud (born 1964) is a screenwriter and director, known for his critically acclaimed novels, feature films, and short films. His feature film I Belong (2012) won the Amanda Award and the Canon Awards for Best Film, Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actress (Laila Goody). He had a sweeping success with Beware of Children (2019) receiving the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film and Actor (Henriette Steenstrup) at the Gothenburg Film Festival. Dag Johan Haugerud has also written several novels published by the Oktober publishing house and has created several critically acclaimed short films. Sex is the first film in the trilogy Sex Dreams Love to have its premiere.
Filmography: Thomas Hylland Eriksen og historien om origamijenta (2005); I Belong (2012); I’m the One You Want (2014); Barn (2019); The Light From the Chocolate Factory (2020)
Photo by Fin Serck Hansen
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Turner & Constable
Filmed as a supplement to a blockbuster exhibition at Tate Britain happening right now, this doc in the popular Exhibition on Screen series allows us to view these competitive, complementary English landscape artists side by side.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Mixing documentary and reenactment, this film powerfully evokes the desperate attempts of the Red Crescent to rescue a six year old child trapped in a car under Israeli military fire. Oscar nominee: Best International Film
Victims of Sin
This movie is a hot scramble of piety and passion, sentimentality and sleaze. Ninón Sevilla plays Violeta, a rumba sensation who oversteps when she rescues a newborn from the trash. This gets her fired and wins the enmity of the pimp who fathered the kid.
Sensualidad
Prostitute Aurora (Cuban-born dance queen Ninón Sevilla) gets out of prison and exacts her vengeance by seducing the very married and respectable judge who put her behind bars (Fernando Soler). Eros makes a mockery of rectitude and righteousness.