The Match Factory Acquires Valeska Grisebach’s ‘The Dreamed Adventure’ Ahead of World Premiere in Competition at Cannes

The Match Factory will handle international sales for “The Dreamed Adventure,” the latest feature film from Valeska Grisebach. The film marks the director’s return to the Croisette, having been selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the competition. The first-look image of the film has been released (above).

The film is set in a border town in southeastern Bulgaria, where a woman becomes involved in an illegal trade to help out a man with whom she shares a special bond. Embarking on a perilous adventure in his stead, she ends up confronting both her own desires and her past.

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Grisebach said: “The starting point for this film was my encounters with people of my generation who experienced the political changes in Bulgaria in 1989. They showed me how deeply this turning point in Europe connects us — and at the same time divides us, through the very different experiences that followed in the years after.”

Written and directed by Grisebach, the film stars Yana Radeva and Syuleyman Halil Letifov (“Western”). It is produced by Komplizen Film in co-production with Kazak Productions, Miramar Film, Panama Film, Valeska Grisebach, New Matter Films, ARTE France Cinéma and ZDF/ARTE and in collaboration with ARTE France.

The film was supported by Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderungsanstalt, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Creative Europe MEDIA, Aide aux cinémas du monde, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, Institut Français, Bulgarian National Film Center, Österreichisches Filminstitut und ÖFI+ and Filmfonds Wien.

Grisebach studied film directing at the Vienna Film Academy. Her graduation film “Mein Stern” was nominated for the Adolf Grimme Prize in 2002 and won the Critics’ Award at the Toronto Film Festival as well as the Grand Prize at the Torino Film Festival.

Her second feature film, “Sehnsucht,” premiered in the Berlinale competition in 2006. The film received numerous awards at international festivals, including the Special Jury Award in Buenos Aires, the Grand Prix Asturias at the Gijón International Film Festival, and the Special Jury Award at the Warsaw International Film Festival.

Her third feature film, “Western,” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and received, among other honors, the German Film Critics’ Award for Best Feature Film.