Berlinale 2025: Dag Johan Haugerud’s Golden Bear Winner ‘Dreams’
by Alex Billington
February 23, 2025
“I was simply head over heels in love with Johanna. That’s why I wrote it down. To keep it with me.” After another long winter film festival at the end of February, the 2025 Berlin Film Festival announced the award winners – giving the Golden Bear top prize to Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud and his film known as Dreams (in English). This warm and fuzzy Norwegian film is deserving of the top prize at this year’s festival, finally a winner that seems to be less of a political pick and more about wonderful filmmaking getting reconigition. I’m glad I had a chance to catch up with Dreams at the end of Berlinale, right before it would go on to win, as it is a seriously wholesome and uplifting cinematic experience. Everyone feels better after watching it. And I’m glad I could catch this one on the big screen and take it in, be wrapped up in it, feel the warmth it exudes like the warmth of the light from the projector. Dreams is the third feature in Dag Johan Haugerud’s recent trilogy & it is undoubtedly the best of the three. He really did save the best for last.
Dreams is originally known as Drømmer in Norwegian, both written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud. It’s the third his Sex / Love / Dreams trilogy, following the other films Sex (which premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival one year ago) and Love (which premiered at the very end of the 2024 Venice Film Festival last year so not many people saw it there). All of the films deal with romance, and with specific aspects of romance and love, including the dynamics of sex and the intricacies of love and the power of passion. Dreams is about exactly what that title is – the dreams and desires and fantasies we have about other people. The story follows a young Norwegian teenager named Johanne, starring Ella Øverbye, who experiences her first overwhelming feelings of love for another woman. It just so happens to be a lustful passion for her French teacher, named Johanna (played by Selome Emnetu), though nothing ever really happens. She writes all her feelings & desires down in a 95-page journal, which she lets her grandma read later on, who then shares it with her mother. This story shocks & upsets & surprises them, until they think about it more and come to slowly appreciate her remarkably honest expression of love and how potent it is.
Watching this beautifully honest and wholesome film feels like being wrapped up in a warm scarf, tenderly twirled around you by your grandma who smiles with the loveliest look as she tugs at it to make sure you’re all snug and cozy. What a lovely, poetic, peaceful, passionate work of cinema. This is once again the ultimate power of truly great cinema, and I’m glad Berlinale gave this film the Golden Bear as it really stands out in this year’s selection. Dag Johan Haugerud finally figured out how to let the warmth of the filmmaking play properly into the story being told so honestly by the characters. This is also the best Norwegian film about young love told through the eyes of a young woman in Oslo since 2021’s The Worst Person in the World, and honestly deserves just as much admiration and appreciation. I watched Haugerud’s other film in this trilogy, Sex, at Berlinale last year, and was mostly underwhelmed, as it goes on and on for two hours without really leaving a lasting impression. Not a very uplifting film, either. I haven’t had the chance to watch Love yet, but reviews from Venice were mixed. Dreams is able to tell its story, focusing on the lives of multiple Norwegian women and their deep desires, while also being an enlightening experience. You will feel wiser afterwards.
Even if I do think this is a wonderful film, it’s not perfect (is love ever perfect?) and does have a few aspects that bother me. I was a bit sad about the ending and what’s going on with Johanne, but thankfully it corrects itself by the time the credits roll. The goal of the film isn’t to address everything about her and her choices, and it kind of skips over the fact that this is her queer sexual awakening, but that’s fine. The film is much more about passion and fantasy and love. It’s also fascinating to pick up on what he’s trying to say with this story. The weight of the whole situation is so intense for everyone involved, but as time goes on, everyone moves on from it as well. That’s how these experiences are for many. It always sounds harsh in the moment, but you will move on and find someone else, you will go on to have even greater love… or maybe not. While her story published as a book may be helpful for some, it’s just one of many examples of desire. Above all, I’m delighted that Dreams is another cozy, intimate, tender film that leaves an impression by being so warm and hopeful when so many other films aren’t these days. More of these kind of films, please and thank you.
Alex’s Berlinale 2025 Rating: 8 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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