A Better Man wins big at Norwegian Gullruten TV Awards

On Friday May 8, Norway’s annual TV awards Gullruten Awards took place at Verftet in Bergen, a new venue for the ceremony in the same city as previous years. The awards show was hosted by actress, comedian, writer and creator of the series Pernille (Pørni) and Nepobaby, Henriette Steenstrup, and aired by the commercial national broadcaster TV 2. Three rewarded titles A Better Man (Ølhunden Berit), Facing War (Stoltenberg – I møte med krigen) and A Sámi Wedding (Heajastallan – Bryllupsfesten) have received funding from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

All three awards in the drama categories were swooped by the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK’s A Better Man, taking home the award for Best Drama Series as well as Best Lead Actor (Anders Baasmo) and Best Supporting Actor (Jonas Strand Gravli) in the gender-neutral acting categories.

A Better Man tells the story of the deeply committed anti-feminist Tom (Baasmo), who spends his time trolling online when he’s not working at his mother’s clothing store. After his identity is publicly exposed by hackers, Tom goes into hiding by wearing women’s clothing, make-up and a wig, and gains new and surprising insights through experiencing the world as Berit.

Previous to Friday’s ceremony, the 4x51 minutes miniseries won seven awards when the Gullruten Fagprisen prizes (Gullruten Industry Awards) were handed out in Oslo on April 22. A Better Man then took the awards for Best Screenplay – Drama (Thomas Seeberg Torjussen), Best Directing – Drama (Torjussen and Gjyljeta Berisha), Best Casting – Fiction (Hanna Kavli Lund), Best Editing – Drama (Silje Nordseth, Anders Bergland and Toril Strøm), Best Sound Design (Gisle Tveito and Joakim Væhle Bjerknæs), Best Original Score – Fiction (Lars Horntveth) and Best Production Design/Art Design – Fiction (Astrid Maria Sætren). Also receiving nods in the Best Cinematography – Fiction and Best Make-Up categories, the series could count a total of nine Fagprisen nominations.

A Better Man is created by writer/director Thomas Seeberg Torjussen and produced by Maipo Film for NRK, in collaboration with Lithuania’s Artbox. The series world premiered at Canneseries in April, where it won three awards: Best Series, the High School Award, and Best Performance (Baasmo). It also took both the Best Series Award and the Popitas Audience Award at Serielizados, as well as Torjussen’s screenplay receiving a nomination for the Nordic Series Script Award 2026.

Facing War, the extended, three episode series version of director Tommy Gulliksen’s CPH:DOX opening film with the same title, won the Gullruten award for Best Documentary Series. The NRK series produced by Dox Division previously received the Fagprisen awards for Best Directing and Best Cinematography in the Documentary (Single Camera) categories. As he is also the cinematographer, both were awarded Gulliksen.

The Gullruten Award for Best Documentary Film went to Sondre and the Heart (Riv i hjertet – En film om Sondre Justad), an intimate portrait of the Norwegian pop star Sondre Justad, directed by Trond Kvig Andreassen and produced by Fenomen Studios for NRK. The prize for Best Comedy Drama Series was awarded Psychodrama (Psykodrama), directed by Arild Fröhlich and produced by Chezville and Einar Film for TV 2.

Back at the Fagprisen industry awards, the Norwegian/Sámi series A Sámi Wedding, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, took the award for Best Cinematography – Drama (Jakob Ingason) as well as Green Production of the Year. The series, directed by Åse Kathrin Vuolab and Pål Jackman, is produced by Mer Film, Tordenfilm and Forest People for NRK.

The Fagprisen prize for Best Editing – Documentary was awarded Kristian Tveit og Trine Nordmark Børstad for Fighter, produced by A5 Film for TV 2.

After Prime Video titles initially were not eligible due to Amazon’s unwillingness to contribute financially to Gullruten (as requested of channels and streaming platforms both through registration fees and a general contribution), the streamer had a change of heart prior to this year’s edition. This resulted in Bård Breien’s limited series In the Name of Love (I kjærlighetens navn), produced by Paradox for Prime Video, receiving one Gullruten nomination (Jonas Hoff Oftebro for Best Supporting Actor) as well as three Fagprisen nominations – and winning the Fagprisen award for Best Props (Lars Rotli).

New categories at Gullruten Fagprisen 2026 were Best Casting – Fiction and Best Casting – Entertainment, replacing the broader Best Casting category introduced two years ago. In addition, there are now separate fiction and non-fiction categories for both Best Original Score and Best Production Design/Art Design.

For the full list of all Gullruten nominees and winners: CLICK HERE (Norwegian).
For the full list of all Fagprisen nominees and winners: CLICK HERE (Norwegian).