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Sex

Panorama

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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

Director

Dag Johan Haugerud

Cast

Jan Gunnar Røise, Thorbjørn Harr, Siri Forberg, Birgitte Larsen

Credits
Country of Origin

Norway

Year

2024

Language

In Norwegian with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
125 min
Award Winners Comedy Drama Family Relations LGBTQIA2S+
Motlys

Book Tickets

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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 headshot; Sex director

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

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