Traumfabrik (Dare to Dream) – Stream It or Skip It

Dennis Mojen and Emilia Schüle’s on-screen chemistry radiates warmth with their complex, layered, magical, and timeless characters, both engaging and vibrant. Meanwhile, director Martin Schreier bathes each scene in pure movie magic, never descending into romantic clichés. Traumfabrik (Dare to Dream and Dreamfactory) is available to rent or buy

From Cinema Paradiso to Empire of Light and The Fabelmans, there is no shortage of films that celebrate the beauty of cinema and our shared love of the silver screen. But how many of you reading this article have heard of Traumfabrik, a 2019 movie confusingly known by two alternate English titles: Dare to Dream and Dream Factory. 

In 1946, the East German DEFA company took over the famous Studio Babelsberg, a vast complex that had given birth to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, and found itself divided by a post-war political agreement between the West and the East. As the Cold War between Russia and the US intensified, Germany became the focal point of tensions as the Iron Curtain descended, separating families, communities, and artists from one another with an impregnable wall. 

In the turbulent history of the studio, its place, survival and enduring magic, Martin Schreier‘s romantic fantasy finds its voice by merging the colour and charm of La-la Land with the energy of The Greatest Showman. The result is a joyous slice of romantic drama that sweeps us away for two glorious hours. But Schreier also layers his love letter to cinema and the power of dreams with an urgent exploration of love across borders and art over ideology.

The story opens as a grandfather consoles his grandson after he learns that love is never easy. As the boy’s eyes fill with tears, his grandfather recounts the story of a hard-won love that began in 1961 in East Berlin. Emil (Dennis Mojen) has just completed his national armed service as he arrives at the dream factory of the DEFA studios. Inside, his older brother Alex (Ken Duken) has secured him work as a walk-on extra in a pirate adventure starring an enigmatic but stroppy French actress, Beatrice Morée. But as Emil walks onto the set, it’s Morée’s younger dance double, Milou (Emilia Schüle), who steals his heart.

As with many films released in 2020 in the United Kingdom, Traumfabrik vanished in the jungle of streaming releases, its lush cinematography, grand staging, and cinematic beauty restricted by a small screen release. Yet, Traumfabrik is undoubtedly one of the best feel-good films of that depressing year. Its screenplay merges fantasy, comedy, and romance into a beautiful homage to the power of dreams, the wonder of the motion picture, and the passion, drive, and creativity of the artist and lover. 

Dennis Mojen and Emilia Schüle’s on-screen chemistry radiates warmth with their complex, layered, magical, and timeless characters, both engaging and vibrant. Meanwhile, director Martin Schreier bathes each scene in pure movie magic, never descending into romantic clichés. Here, the painful history of Germany’s East/West split is never sidelined, nor is the ability of love to transcend borders or the power of cinema in breaking down walls. Add a genuinely stunning score from Philipp Noll, and Traumfabrik becomes a romantic comedy/drama gem that will likely not receive the audience it so duly deserves.

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