Skip to main content

Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams

Dir. Ena Sendijarevic
102 min

When Jan, the owner of an Indonesian sugar plantation, dies suddenly, he leaves everything to his young illegitimate son that he had with his housekeeper. His widow and his adult son, traveling from the Netherlands with his pregnant wife to settle his father's estate, have nothing to lose as they try to save their crumbling fortune.

Set in the era of dying colonialism in the Dutch East Indies, Sweet Dreams is anything but–rebellion is at hand, the decay of aristocracy is palpable, and madness is an ember that threatens to burn the whole thing down. Ena Sendijarevic paints a visually stunning road-to-ruin fairy tale that is at once a comedy of manners and devastating look at colonialism. Netherlands’ official entry for this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Sweet Dreams is gorgeously shot, masterfully composed and tightly framed within an Academy aspect ratio, its stylised storytelling never ceasing to captivate.” –Marina Ashioti, Little White Lies

Film Details

Release Year: 2023
Runtime: 102 min
Country/Region: Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia, France (Réunion)
Language: Dutch, Indonesian
Print Source: Heretic
Tags: Drama, Human Rights, Oscar Submission, Sociopolitical, Women Directors

Cast/Crew

Director: Ena Sendijarevic
Executive Producer: Judy Tossel, Laurent Médéa, Ena Sendijarevic
Producer: Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit
Cinematographer: Emo Weemhoff
Screenwriter: Ena Sendijarevic
Editor: Lot Rossmark
Composer: Martial Foe
Principal Cast: Renée Soutendijk, Hayati Azis, Lisa Zweerman, Florian Myjer, Muhammad Khan, Hans Dagelet, Rio den Haas, Peter Faber, Verdi Solaiman