Praise from the foreign press, Oscar entry for this year and the biggest contender for the Golden Calves on Friday evening. The darkly comic thriller Sweet Dreams is off to a flying start. However, that is no guarantee of full halls. What’s up with that?
There is clearly enthusiasm for it in the film world Sweet Dreams, which offers a satirical view of the Dutch East Indies around 1900. The sultry film shows how Dutch people bathe in luxury, while the local population is exploited and abused. In the meantime, changes are afoot. After the sudden death of sugar manufacturer Jan, the cards are shuffled again.
The interest in our colonial past – with all its abuses, tensions and intrigues – has been there for years. Think of big audience films like Max Havelaar, How expensive was the sugar in The East. Also Sweet Dreams fits in with that list, although director Ena Sendijarevic gives it a twist. Sometimes absurdist, sometimes slightly alienating; her drama has a contrarian style.
Film professionals are already responding enthusiastically. Sweet Dreams was selected for the Locarno and Toronto festivals rave reviews van well-known trade magazines and was nominated this week for a European Film Award. Yet it remains to be seen what this will ultimately yield in our cinemas. Two film distributors explain this to NU.nl.
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Watch the trailer for Sweet Dreams here
Lots of extra media attention
“The opening of the Dutch Film Festival definitely helps,” says Sietz van der Aa of Gusto Entertainment. “We have received a lot of extra media attention. As a result, you notice that theaters want to be there. But the news of festival selections and the Oscar submission only came afterwards. The major theaters have already determined which films they want to show.”
Sweet Dreams has been showing in fifty cinemas since Thursday. Whether viewers will find the film there remains a matter of speculation. Last year remained our Oscar entry Narcosiswhich was also positively received by the press, attracted almost 24,000 visitors.
“For a Dutch arthouse film Narcosis it is very beautiful and as expected,” explains Nusch Baird of September Film. “It is of course wonderful if a film is chosen as an entry, but the figures do not suddenly go through the roof. A submission in itself does not mean much.”
It’s a different story with a nomination or win. The thriller Parasite is a textbook example. Baird: “At first we noticed that the big cinemas were not interested in it, because it comes from South Korea. But there was a strong buzz around it. People discovered that it is a very accessible and surprising film. When he won the Oscars, we saw even more visitors coming.”
Renée Soutendijk has already been awarded in Locarno and has a chance to win a Golden Calf on Friday evening. Photo: Gusto Entertainment
Dutch film is particularly successful with cheerful entertainment
Yet even explains Parasite against the most popular Dutch film of this year. De Tatta’s attracted almost 700,000 people to the cinema. Foreign prizes or festival selections were not necessary for this. An accessible and light-hearted story was enough for the multicultural comedy. In fact, cheerful entertainment filled the entire Dutch cinema top ten.
Baird notes that the more serious films in particular are less likely to be embraced. “When the going gets tough, it often seems more difficult to find a large audience. I think that Dutch film is sometimes still looked down upon too much. It could be that people think that the screenplay is always bad, or that the actors are substandard. But many films prove the opposite.”
The eight Kalf nominations help Sweet Dreams at least a little further, says Van der Aa. “There have already been some bookings for the second run in smaller theaters. But I think a win will really make the difference. So I’m very curious to see what it will be tonight.”
2023-09-29 03:11:00
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