The Raft

In 1973, five men and six women drifted across the Atlantic on a raft as part of a scientific experiment studying the sociology of violence, aggression and sexual attraction in human behavior. Although the project became known in the press as ‘The Sex Raft,’ nobody expected what ultimately took place on that three month journey. Through extraordinary archive material and a reunion of the surviving members of the expedition on a full scale replica of the raft, this film tells the hidden story behind what has been described as ’one of the strangest group experiments of all time.’

The Raft is the first feature-length documentary by Swedish artist and filmmaker Marcus Lindeen. It premiered at CPH:DOX film festival, one of Europe’s leading non-fiction showcases, where it won the main award. The film, a Swedish co-production with Denmark, Germany and the U.S., is described in the jury’s statement as “a perfect marriage of form and content… We see love, companionship and stamina triumph over darker sides of human behavior… A unique record of time and culture, of ageing and ultimately, a monument to the courage of people formerly known as the weaker sex, who embark on a journey into the unknown.” Past winners of the festival’s top prize include Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing as well as recent Oscar nominee Last Men in Aleppo. The film is edited by Alexandra Strauss who recently made the Oscar nominated I am not your negro by Raul Peck.

The life-size replica of the original raft, used as a set prop in the film, has been created by Simone Grau Roney, known for her work on several of Lars von Trier’s films. Marcus Lindeen exhibited the reconstruction as part of an art installation at Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2017.