Sweet Dreams
Showtime: Saturday, 11 November, 1:00 PM, Innis Town Hall
Sierra Urich, USA, 2023, 110’, Canadian Premiere
In English and Farsi, with English subtitles
Cleveland FF 2023, Winner, Best Documentary; Sundance FF 2023, Nominated, Grand Jury Prize
Ena Sendijarevic, The Netherlands, 102’, 2023
In Dutch and Indonesian, with English subtitles
Winner, Locarno IFF 2023, Best Performance; Nominated, Chicago IFF, Best New Director; Ghent IFF 2023, Best Film; Haifa IFF 2023, Best Debut Film; Valladolid IFF 2023, Best Film; The Netherland’s Official Entry for Oscars 2024
Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Ena Sendijarević returns to the Diaspora Film Festival after her first success Take me Somewhere Nice (2019) with this powerful and honest recollection of colonial era Indonesia.
On a remote Indonesian island, during the waning days of the colonial era, Dutch sugar plantation owner Jan and his wife Agathe, are at the top of the food chain. That is, until Jan upon returning from his nightly visit to his native concubine Siti, suddenly drops dead in front of his wife. Desperate to keep the privileges of her status quo, Agathe forces her estranged son Cornelis and his heavily pregnant wife Josefien, to travel from Europe and take over the family business. In the midst of a worker’s uprising, Cornelis displays his plans for progressive change. But when Jan’s will puts Siti at the forefront of the family estate, ideals prove to be idle and blood thicker than water