The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the main competition line-up for its upcoming edition (see the news), with The Dreamed Adventure, the latest feature by German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach, among the selected titles due to vie for the Palme d’Or.

Set in a remote border town in southeastern Bulgaria, the film follows a woman who becomes embroiled in an illegal deal in order to assist a man with whom she shares a deep emotional bond. As she embarks on a perilous adventure in his stead, she ends up confronting both her own desires and her past.

The film stars Bulgarian actress Yana Radeva in the lead role, alongside Syuleyman Halil Letifov, known for his performance in Western. The project continues Grisebach’s exploration of non-professional and hybrid casting, blending lived experience with fiction to create a grounded, immersive narrative.

Written and directed by Grisebach, The Dreamed Adventure marks the director’s return to Cannes following the success of Western, which premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2017 and went on to garner critical acclaim. Her earlier works include her sophomore feature, Longing, which screened in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and received numerous awards at international gatherings.

The director stated: “Being invited to the competition at the Cannes Film Festival fills me and the entire team with great joy. 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. I’m especially proud of the ensemble: the actors who, with all their imagination, life experience, courage and dedication, brought this story to life – above all, our lead actress, Yana Radeva. That The Dreamed Adventure is now celebrating its world premiere in Cannes is a huge gift to all of us.”

The Dreamed Adventure is being produced by Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski and Maren Ade for Komplizen Film, in co-production with Jean Christophe Reymond for France’s Kazak Productions, Mila Voinikova for Bulgaria’s Miramar Film, and Lixi Frank and David Bohun for Austria’s Panama Film, as well as Valeska Grisebach, Luise Hauschild and Mariam Shatberashvili for New Matter Films, ARTE France Cinéma and ZDF/ARTE, in collaboration with ARTE France.

The film was supported by Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FFA, DFF, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Creative Europe – MEDIA, Aide aux cinémas du monde, the CNC, the Institut français, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Österreichisches Filminstitut and ÖFI+, and Filmfonds Wien. International sales for the film are handled by The Match Factory, which continues its collaboration with leading European auteurs.