The German director will close out the Cannes 2026 competition with her new feature, about an archaeologist who becomes entwined in a war between rival criminal gangs.
It’s been a long time coming, but Valeska Grisebach is back in Cannes.
The German director is presenting her new feature, The Dreamed Adventure, in the competition lineup, closing out the festival on the final Friday, May 22.
The last time she was on the Croisette was way back in 2017 with Western, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section to critical acclaim, a confirmation of the promise of her two previous features, Mein Stein (2002), which won the Critics’ Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and Sehnsucht (2006), a Competition entry in Berlin in 2006.
But Western‘s success — it went on to win the German Film Critics’ Award for Best Feature Film, and was a runner-up for the Lolas, Germany’s Oscar-equivalent — didn’t make it much easier for Grisebach to get The Dreamed Adventure made. Her way of working — using amateur actors, shooting without a conventional script — has made it difficult for her to secure traditional financing from European funds and film boards.
