Dag Johan Haugerud receives the FRED AWARD 2025 at the Venice Film Festival

The FRED AWARD 2025, the prize that FRED Film Radio presents every year during the Venice International Film Festival to those who champion independent cinema and cultural dialogue, has been awarded today to Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud.

The award comes at a pivotal moment in the director’s career: Haugerud, a frequent guest at Venice with his films, is serving this year as President of the Giornate degli Autori Jury and has recently completed the trilogy Sex – Love – Dreams, an intense portrait of contemporary Europe that has been celebrated in both Berlin and Venice, culminating with the Golden Bear at the 2025 Berlinale.

The award’s motivation is clear:

“A bold and distinctive voice in contemporary European cinema, the author of a profoundly human and intellectually refined body of work. Haugerud’s cinema tackles sensitive issues – gender, queer identity, social roles – with warmth, intelligence, and remarkable psychological clarity. His characters confront inner contradictions and social expectations without ever seeking spectacle, instead inviting empathy and reflection. FRED Film Radio particularly values Haugerud’s commitment to thoughtful, courageous filmmaking that asks who we are and how we live. His films challenge, move, and transform — embodying the ideals of cultural inclusion at the heart of FRED’s mission.”

FRED Award

The FRED Award is more than just a trophy; it is a statement of recognition and encouragement to those who believe that independent cinema is still an essential voice. In past years, the award has been presented to artists such as Joaquim Lafosse, Pablo Larraín, Willem Dafoe, Jasmine Trinca, Haifaa Al Mansour, Matt Dillon, Alessandro Borghi, Céline Sciamma, Tessa Thompson, Lola Dueñas, Richard Linklater, and Luca Marinelli — a constellation of talents who unite artistic excellence with cultural engagement.

Who is Dag Johan Haugerud?

Born in Eidsberg in 1964, Haugerud has an eclectic background: he trained as a librarian, earned a degree in Cinema at Stockholm University, and attended playwriting courses at the University of Oslo as well as creative writing at Telemark University College. He has worked as a journalist and playwright, published four novels – Noe med natur (1999), Den som er veldig sterk, må også være veldig snill (2002), Hva jeg betyr (2011), and Enkle atonale stykker for barn (2016) – before making his feature debut with Som du ser meg (I Belong) in 2012. International acclaim followed with Barn (Beware of Children) in 2019 and solidified with the trilogy Sex – Love – Dreams between 2024 and 2025.

FRED Film Radio

FRED Film Radio is the International Web Radio of the Venice Film Festival. With 29 channels – 25 language-based and 4 thematic (FRED Education, FRED Entertainment, FRED Extra, and FRED Industry) – FRED covers film festivals worldwide with interviews, insights, and programs such as The Soup of the Day, Global Critics Venice Voice, and Kinotico. Once again, FRED is also a media partner of the Venice Production Bridge, Giornate degli Autori, and the International Critics’ Week.