THE DANISH, PRESTIGIOUS FILM AWARD, BODILPRISEN, INTRODUCES GENDER-NEUTRAL CATEGORIES

Today the Danish Film Critics Association announces that the Danish film award, Bodilprisen, will eliminate gendered categories. Instead, more nominees will be added to the acting categories, alongside the introduction of new award categories that makes room to recognise more achievements on the big screen. Bodilprisen will be Denmark’s first film award to introduce gender-neutral categories.

When Bodilprisen – one of Europe’s oldest film awards – is held for the 78th time on 15 March 2025 in Copenhagen actors will no longer be nominated by gender. This specifically means that the Best Actress and Best Actor categories will be merged into a single Best Lead Role, while the Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories will become a single Best Supporting Role. Additionally, the number of nominees in each acting category will increase from five to seven.

A new category, Best Ensemble, will also be introduced. This acting award will nominate between two to five candidates and will honour films with an outstanding ensemble cast whose collective performance deserves recognition.

Nanna Frank Rasmussen, Chair of the Danish Film Critics Association, states:

“If the Bodilprisen were founded today it would be hard to imagine that some categories would be gender-divided while others were not. And even a grand old institution like Bodilprisen must evolve with the times. Therefore, we in the Danish Film Critics Association are pleased to announce that Bodilprisen will no longer feature gendered acting categories. The quality of a film performance does not depend on the actor’s gender, and it is crucial that Bodilprisen can include and celebrate all the talent in the film industry. The Danish Film Critics Association can of course only reward the performances that become visible in the films of the given year. So if these new gender-neutral acting awards highlight the lack of gender equality that still exists in the film industry – in Denmark as well as abroad – we welcome that conversation as well. For the 2025 awards, we especially look forward to seeing the broader nominee fields in the new Best Lead Role and Best Supporting Role categories, and to celebrating the art that arises from collaborative performances with the new Best Ensemble category.”

The changes have been adopted as a trial period. After four years, the Danish Film Critics Association will review the new award structure and vote on whether to maintain, modify, or discontinue the removal of gendered acting categories at its general assembly in 2028.

The new categories of Bodilprisen are:

• Best Film
• Best Lead Role
• Best Supporting Role
• Best Ensemble
• Best Documentary
• Best English-Language Film
• Best Non-English-Language Film
• Best Cinematography
• Best Screenplay
• Honorary Bodil // Æres-Bodil
• Special Bodil // Sær-Bodil
• Henning Bahs Award
• TV 2 Talent Award

Kind regards,
HAVE Kommunikation

For further information, please contact:
Stine Albrechtsen // stine@have.dk // +45 3024 1400

About Bodilprisen
Bodilprisen from the Danish Film Critics Association – one of Europe’s oldest film awards – is presented annually at a grand gala event. The content of the celebration can vary, but in recent years it has featured a great celebration of nominated films and stars, the famous Bodil cake, entertainment and the presentation of the Bodil Awards.

Awards are given for Best Danish Film, Best Lead Role, Best Supporting Role, Best Ensemble, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, as well as Best Documentary, Best English-Language Film, and Best Non-English-Language Film.

In addition to these awards, the Danish Film Critics Association presents a Special Bodil for a significant contribution during the year, as well as an Honorary Bodil to an individual who has made a notable impact over the years. Furthermore, the Henning Bahs Award is presented in collaboration with the Association of Danish Set Designers to honour outstanding work in production design and film scenography.