'Dreams,' film about teen infatuation, takes top prize at Berlin International Film Festival

Berlin: The Norwegian drama Dreams (Sex Love), a tender, often funny film by director Dag Johan Haugerud, won the top prize at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

Part of a trilogy about contemporary relationships in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, the understated feature follows the consequences of a high school student's obsession with her teacher and her decision to write about their relationship. The other two installments, "Sex" and "Love," premiered last year at the Berlin and Venice film festivals.

In his acceptance speech, Haugerud said the film was about the act of "writing and reading." He added that people should "write more and read more, it expands your mind." He also praised the film's young star, Ella Overbye, whose warm, finely calibrated performance carries much of the film.

American director Todd Haynes led this year's jury, which included Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, German filmmaker and actress Maria Schrader, and Los Angeles Times film critic Amy Nicholson.

The runner-up prize went to The Blue Trail, a Brazilian film set in a society in which people older than 77 are sent to a "colony." It was one of the most praised titles in competition at the Berlinale, as the festival is known in Germany.

"The Message," a film from Argentina about a girl who claims to communicate with animals, won the special jury prize. In his speech, director Iván Fund said the award represented a "counterweight" to the government's drastic cuts to the cultural sector under President Javier Milei. "Cinema is under attack," Fund said, but "film cannot be undone."

Huo Meng won best director for "Living the Land," a film about four generations of a family in a countryside village in China. The award for best screenplay went to Radu Jude of Romania for "Kontinental '25," a satire centered on a bailiff's crisis of conscience after a stranger's suicide.

The best performance award went to Australian actress Rose Byrne for her relentlessly intense presence in "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Byrne plays a mother in Long Island, New York, taking care of a sick child and circling a nervous breakdown while negotiating a tense relationship with her therapist, played by comedian Conan O'Brien. Irish actor Andrew Scott won best supporting performance for his take on composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's chamber piece "Blue Moon."

This year's Berlinale has been closely watched because it is the first under the leadership of Tricia Tuttle, the American former head of the London Film Festival, whom many hoped would reinvigorate the festival. The German event has long faced criticism over its lack of glamour compared with the Cannes and Venice film festivals.

Among other changes, Tuttle eliminated a competition program that was centered on experimental film and introduced a new section for directors' debut features.

She has also had to navigate a heated debate around freedom of speech and the war in the Gaza Strip, after filmmakers criticized Israel during their acceptance speech at last year's ceremony. Tuttle said she wanted to refocus attention on the films.

By many accounts, she succeeded. Political controversy has largely been absent from the festival, and German critics have generally been positive about the festival's lineup. Fabian Wallmeier of public broadcaster RBB called it a "surprisingly solid competition" selection, and Hanns-Georg Rodek of newspaper Die Welt said Tuttle had "tackled the problems of the festival."

Tuttle said that she had also aimed to expand the Berlinale's appeal to locals. Figures released midway through the Berlinale, the largest film festival in the world by audience numbers, suggested she had achieved her goal: According to the organizers, ticket sales had increased by more than 14,000 over last year.