Norwegian drama takes top prize at Berlin International Film Festival
The winning film was described as a ‘meditation on love’.
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery has won top honours at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to Dreams (Sex Love) by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a “meditation on love” that “cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence”.
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Overbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings.
It is the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro’s dystopian drama The Blue Trail. Argentine director Ivan Fund’s rural saga The Message won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for Living The Land, set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed If I had Legs, I’d Kick You. Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon.
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany’s parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
