AFTER a few days of gentle snowfall, a serene blue sky graced the 75th edition of this year’s Berlin Film Festival, as if the weather itself aligned with Germany’s “no-conflict” cultural policy. 

The Golden Bear went to Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud for Dreams (Sex Love). The film is the final episode of a thematically related trilogy, concluding with a female coming-of-age story. Johanna, the protagonist, narrates the film in voice-over as she writes a novel about her experience of falling in love with her new language teacher, a charismatic and attractive young woman. 

A first-love story depicted with impeccable delicacy and a distinctive directorial style, the film is elegant, sensitive and emotionally rich, creating a strong sense of intimacy that perfectly captures the dynamic between student and teacher, highlighting the student’s quest for attention and approval. The plotting is complex and dense, involving numerous literary and cinematic references. An impressive achievement, admired for its overall lightness of touch.