Sweet Dreams

Synopsis

"Sweet Dreams" is set on a remote Indonesian island at the end of the colonial era. The Dutch plantation owner Jan and his wife Agathe sit at the top of the food chain. That is, until Jan returns from his nightly visit to his native concubine Siti and suddenly drops dead in front of his wife. Desperate to maintain her privileges, Agathe forces her son Cornelis — with whom she barely has any contact — and his heavily pregnant wife Josefien to travel from Europe to take over the family business. During a workers’ uprising, Cornelis reveals his plans for progressive change, but when Jan’s will appoints Siti as the head of the family estate, ideals prove weak and blood thicker than water.

Production Facts

Ena Sendijarević is a Bosnian-Dutch director and script writer. She has previously directed several successful short films, including "Import", which was shown in 2016 at Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) and the Toronto International Film Festival. She made her feature film debut with "Take Me Somewhere Nice", which premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, where it won the Tiger Award – Special Jury Award, and later won the Heart of Sarajevo at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

"Sweet Dreams" was selected this summer for the main competition at the Locarno Film Festival in Italy, where Ena Sendijarević won second prize for Best Director (Junior Jury), and actor Renée Soutendijk won the award for Best Performance. It was also selected for the Toronto International Film Festival and served as the opening film at the Nederlands Film Festival.

Produced by Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit, Lemming Film in co-production with Erik Hemmendorff, Plattform Produktion, Talamedia, and Film i Väst. With support from the Swedish Film Institute, Netherlands Film Fund, Netherlands Film Production Incentive, MEDIA Creative Europe, CoBO, Région Réunion, TRIP.