30/04/2025 - From psychological thriller to comedy and family drama, Norwegian series have dominated this year’s awards, with Nepobaby and The Agent – The Life and Lies of My Father also among the winners

The eighth season of Canneseries, which ran from 24-29 April, has announced its winners. The jury, presided over by US Emmy Award-winning and Grammy-nominated composer Jeff Russo, included French actress Louise Bourgoin, French thesp César Domboy, Spanish actress Lola Dueñas, and showrunner and executive producer Soo Hugh. The Norwegian psychological thriller A Better Man was crowned Best Series at the event.

Directed by Thomas Seeberg Torjussen and Gjyljeta Berisha, and written by Torjussen, the first season of the 4 x 51-minute series tells the story of Tom, who blames feminism for everything that’s wrong with modern society. He works in his mother’s clothing store by day and trolls the internet by night. When hackers expose his identity and reveal his most embarrassing secrets, he hides in the only thing close at hand: women’s clothing. The world then opens up to him in unexpected ways. The cast includes Anders Baasmo, Ingrid Unnur Giæver, Jonas Strand Gravli and Irena Sikorskytė.

A Better Man is a Norwegian-Lithuanian co-production, produced by Synnøve Hørsdal and Christian Fredrik Martin for Norway’s Maipo Film in collaboration with Lithuania’s Artbox. The series is broadcast by NRK and ZDFneo, with international sales handled by Beta Film. It also won the Best Performance Award for Anders Baasmo and received the High School Award.

Another Norwegian series, Nepobaby, was awarded the Special Performance Award for its entire cast: Nicolai Cleve Broch, Henriette Steenstrup, Kristin Grue, Helle Eia, Vivild Falk Berg and Deniz Kaya. The first season of the 6 x 30-minute series follows Emma, whose life changes forever in a single day. She discovers that she is the heir to one of Norway’s oldest and wealthiest shipping dynasties. Her estranged father, who recently passed away, secretly included her in his will and the family business, much to the dismay of her four newly discovered siblings.

Created by Henriette Steenstrup and Siri Seljeseth, Nepobaby blends comedy with family drama. The series, written by Steenstrup, Seljeseth and Tina Rygh, also won the Best Screenplay Award. Directed by Gunnar Vikene and Hallvar Witzø, it is produced by Eldorado Content Club, with international sales handled by Oble and Nordisk Film Distribution. The series is broadcast by TV2.

Finally, in the Documentary Series competition, another Norwegian show came out on top: The Agent – The Life and Lies of My Father, created by Magnus Skatvold and following the confessions of a father to his young son that he is a secret spy. The series is produced and broadcast by NRK.

Here is the full list of award winners at season 8 of Canneseries:

Best Series
A Better Man – created by Thomas Seeberg Torjussen (Norway/Lithuania)

Best Performance
Anders Baasmo – A Better Man

Special Performance Award
Entire cast of Nepobaby (created by Henriette Steenstrup and Siri Seljeseth) (Norway)

Best Screenplay
Henriette Steenstrup, Siri Seljeseth, Tina Rygh - Nepobaby

Best Music
Junoh Lee - S Line (created by Handae Rhee) (South Korea)

Best Short Form Series
Oh, Otto! - created by Stijn Van Kerkhoven (Belgium)

Best Documentary Series
The Agent – The Life and Lies of My Father – created by Magnus Skatvold (Norway)

Other awards

High School Award for Best Long Series
A Better Man

Student Award for Best Short Form Series
Oh, Otto!