“Drømmer (Dreams)”, interview with the director Dag Johan Haugerud and the actress Ella Øverbye

February 21, 2025

Dag Johan Haugerud, director Ella Øverbye actress . "Drømmer (Dreams)". Third part of the trilogy, with "Love" and "Sex" about relationships and love. Unmissable.

"Drømmer (Dreams)", interview with the director Dag Johan Haugerud and the actress Ella Øverbye Angelo Acerbi

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“Drømmer (Dreams)” is the third part of the trilogy written and directed by Dag Johan Haugerud, showing at Berlinale in the official Competition. This delicate, intelligent and realistic movie closes the trilogy of “Love” and “Sex”; it is the story of the coming of age of a young woman Johanne whose first love for her teacher is upsetting her world. We had a talk with the director and the actress to dig more into the motivations and the uplifting lesson of such a wonderful movie.

This was supposed to be the second part of the trilogy. A personal memory

Even if “Drømmer (Dreams)” was supposed to be the second and not the third episode of the trilogy, as the director Dag Johan Haugerud told us, still the film holds its force and sense as closing the circle. the reason of the choice of first love , as devastating as it is, and sweet as well, is based on memories of his personal first crush, that is replicated without any melodrama or melancholy, but with the typical sweet and sour taste those moments hold.

An all-woman story

In “Drømmer (Dreams)” we have three generations of women, each linked and depending on the others, but with the younger one (Johanne) being the motor for a reconsideration of their lives and choices by the mother and the grand mother. These women talk, discuss and disagree as well, but there is a strong bond of respect and love.

Plot

At 17, Johanne falls head over heels in love with her female teacher. In an attempt to capture this first crush, she pours her experiences onto paper with raw honesty. When her mother and grandmother discover her writings, their initial shock at the intimate descriptions gives way to admiration for their literary merit. The two older women begin to reflect on their own love lives, their pleasures and missed opportunities, and are reminded of the overwhelming sensation of first love; and of the longing for something more. Johanne’s grandmother, an established poet herself, feels both pride and unease at her granddaughter’s natural talent. But questions linger: What truly happened between Johanne and her teacher? Where does reality end and fiction begin? And should these deeply personal writings ever find their way to publication?

Written by: Angelo Acerbi

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