Fresh from winning the 2025 Berlinale Golden Bear for Dreams, the second installment of his Oslo Stories Trilogy, Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud talks about Sex, the opening chapter. The film follows two male colleagues – a chimney sweeper and a CEO, both married to women – after an unexpected sexual encounter. One faces his desire for men; the other begins to question gender roles and identity. Gay sex is central to the story but never shown on screen, as Haugerud explains.
Talk me through your decision to focus on two middle-aged men exploring desire and gender norms, rather than younger characters? There’s often more stigma around these topics for the older generation.
Probably because I’m middle-aged myself, and because I wanted to work with these particular actors I’ve collaborated with before. I wanted to give them new challenges.
This is my first trilogy, and all three films deal with different aspects of sexuality. The idea for Sex came to me while reading an Oslo public-health survey. They asked men being tested for STDs how they identified: gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. Most identified as heterosexual, yet many of them had sexual experiences with other men. I found it fascinating that they didn’t consider themselves gay, but still enjoyed gay sex. That was my starting point. I was interested in showing that it’s possible to have homosexual intercourse without ever thinking about ‘coming out.’
Your movie is titled Sex, yet the act itself is never depicted. Were you more interested in the aftermath?
I wanted to leave the sex to the audience’s imagination. Maybe I could have dedicated even more space to describing how it happened, because sex can be really complicated. But I never considered showing it directly; it felt more interesting not to.
When the CEO – played by Thorbjørn Harr – reveals he’s Christian, it almost plays like a coming-out moment. Satire, or a comment on how being Christian can be seen as problematic today?
It depends on the cultural context. Norway, and the Nordic countries in general, are very secular. In cities like Copenhagen or elsewhere in the north, it can actually be more problematic to ‘come out’ as Christian – almost more shameful – because tolerance for LGBTQ+ people has grown. There’s still homophobia, but respect for LGBTQ+ identities is now institutionalized.
What do you hope Norwegian and international audiences take from Sex? Are you seeing different reactions abroad?
Yes, very different. In Norway, the movie isn’t controversial at all. But an Italian journalist told me she found it controversial, especially the scene where one of the men talks with his son about periods. She thought it was unusual to see that on screen, which surprised me. We’ve shown the film in Latin America, China, Eastern Europe – and the reactions vary widely in each place.
How was the festival run – including the London Film Festival [where he presented Sex in October 2024]?
I had a very nice time!
Strand Releasing
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