The Dreamed Adventure

In her quietly thrilling, innovatively structured new film, German director Valeska Grisebach tells a story of immigrant lives on the fragile boundaries of Eastern and Western Europe that gradually shifts into a wide-ranging crime saga. Set in the Bulgarian border town of Svilengrad, The Dreamed Adventure initially follows Said (Syuleyman Letifov), a local worker reacclimating to the community after time away; yet soon Said disappears and the perspective shifts to that of his old flame Veska (Yana Radeva), an archaeologist who has also come back to town—and who grows worried that Said has fallen in with violent local gangsters. Taking it upon herself to track down Said, Veska intrepidly confronts a lawless, patriarchal network, which Grisebach depicts with remarkable authenticity and keen insight. As in her absorbing previous feature, Western (NYFF55), the director uses a vérité approach to engage with tried-and-true movie genres, subtly recontextualizing the contours of cinematic grammar. Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. A Janus Films release.