"A sensitive film about visionaries that has everything you need to dream." – Kultura Extra
"The movie shows people living fundamental changes and proves that there are alternatives to the daily grind." – Utopia
Cinema release: 30.09.2021
A feature-length documentary film by Valentin Thurn
A coproduction with Schnittstelle Köln, EIKON and the RBB
Cinema rental of Alamode Film
Five people who could hardly be more different: Designer Van Bo Le-Mentzel demands rent-free living for everyone and shows how this can be done with Tiny Houses - right in the middle of Berlin! Inventor Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz wants to let heavy loads float in balloons, even though he has already gone bankrupt with his idea once. Line Fuks emigrates to Portugal with all his heart and soul, so that their children will never have to go to school again, but will only learn what they want. Action artist Joy Lohmann builds floating islands - from garbage! And Günther Golob hopes for a journey without return: as a member of the first colonization mission to Mars. "Dream on" accompanies five protagonists who are looking for alternatives - for themselves, but also for society. As different as their ideas of a different life may be, they are united by a common starting point: a dream that first develops deep inside and then pushes further and further outwards. But why do they in particular manage to take their dreams seriously and believe in their realization? Director Valentin Thurn explores this mystery and discovers what drives dreamers to create their utopias and is there when they try to make them come true.
What does it actually take to turn your dream of a different life into reality these days?
TRÄUM WEITER! tries to unravel this mystery by following five people as they realize their own personal dreams.
Joy, Van Bo, Line, Carl-Heinrich and Günther start personal revolutions, some bigger, some smaller. They have set their minds on giving their lives a new direction and breaking through conventional thought patterns. While one of them dreams of her children growing up without school, the other wants to be one of the first to colonize the planet Mars. They are fantasists, idealists, pioneers - and they all have one thing in common: they have decided for themselves that self-discovery only works if you stop putting off goals and finally muster the courage to live your dream. Wanting to change your own reality is one thing. And probably easier said than done. But letting go, finding yourself and pursuing your vision is, as it soon turns out, a journey that never ends...
For around three years, documentary filmmaker Valentin Thurn ("Taste the Waste") accompanied the protagonists of his film TRÄUM WEITER! Longing for Change accompanied them for around three years. The author and director explored the question of how people who want to escape the daily grind fulfill the slogan "Live your dream!" with meaning and put it into practice. Again and again surprising, filmed with great closeness, sensitivity and expressiveness, portraits have been created that tell of unwavering heroes full of optimism, courage and joie de vivre. "Many people today are looking for real alternatives," says director Valentin Thurn, "for themselves and for society." Using five impressive examples, he shows in TRÄUM WEITER! Longing for Change, he shows how exciting this path can be.
Designer Joy Lohmann dreams of islands that he builds himself. Not alone, but with many volunteers, and always from waste, old plastic bottles for example. They are a beacon against climate change, but also potentially a practical solution to save people from flooding. The focus of the work in Germany is on the symbolic power of the islands to draw attention to climate change.
When Line and Katja Fuks meet, it quickly becomes clear that they want to bring up Line's four children and Katja's three together. They decide to go down the path of free schooling. The only problem is that schooling is compulsory for everyone in Germany. So they emigrate to Portugal, where they have renovated an old farm on an overgrown plot of land. Here, their children can learn whatever they want, without any pressure.
Instagram: @wildnisfamilie / Website wildnisfamilie.net
Next Project „Gnadenhof“ / Blogpost „Warum Schule?“
Van Bo Le Mentzel designs and builds Tiny Houses, sets them up on the streets of Berlin and creates public meeting places. He calls for rent-free living for everyone and shows how this can be achieved with tiny houses. His big dream, however, is the "Co-Being-Haus", a model against housing shortage and loneliness, which is now to be built in Berlin's student village.
Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz was a successful manager in a mechanical engineering company when he decided to give it all up and take his family to the USA for a year. It was there that he developed an idea that would shape the rest of his life: Lighter-than-air technology for transporting loads, also known as the Zeppelin. The "Cargolifter" was to be built in a huge hall in Brandenburg - until the financial crisis threw a spanner in the works and forced him into insolvency. But Carl Heinrich v. Gablenz refused to give up, believing his idea to be groundbreaking, slower but cheaper and more environmentally friendly than airplanes or helicopters.
Günther Golob ran a cultural agency in Graz before giving up everything to concentrate solely on his application for the Mars One mission. And indeed: he passed the first test, and 100 out of over 200,000 applicants have now been selected for the final round. The Mars flight by a private investor group is scheduled to take place in 2026. A one-way ticket to Mars - for many, that sounds like suicide. Not so for the Austrian: he wants to be part of the first Mars colonization. Further flights are to bring more people.
"We will think about a completely new society. For example: should there be money there or not?"
I want to inspire viewers to break out of their personal treadmill and pursue their dreams by presenting the example of five people who are creating something new or giving their lives a completely new direction. Their goals and motivations are very different. But what they all have in common is that they are prepared to overcome resistance, both external and internal, in order to follow their dream, vision or utopia. Of course, this topic also has something to do with me, because I was also trapped in a hamster wheel.
After many cinema discussions, I realized how impatient younger viewers have become. They want fundamental changes in the economy and society, and they don't want new gurus who preach great ideas but don't live their lives accordingly. Authenticity is required, change should start with each individual. I was in close contact with my protagonists for two to three years during filming and this inspired me to get out of my everyday rut. I want to achieve the same with the viewers. At a time when the economic system is considered to have "no alternative" (Angela Merkel), many people are looking for real alternatives - for themselves and for society. Young people in particular are increasingly asking themselves: How can I escape the hamster wheel that people are trying to force me into? They feel that the economic system is constantly accelerating. It only works if we are constantly producing and consuming. Our pace of life is thus becoming ever faster, our senses ever more overstimulated and our peace and quiet ever less. However, this also erases the time for leisure from modern life, the time for reflection and, above all, the time for dreaming. Without this time out from the daily sprint, creativity is deprived of its basis. As a result, new ideas for the future do not even emerge. This is a threatening situation for a country like Germany, whose wealth is essentially based on human resources. I want to help overcome this paralysis by showing how people create new visions and utopias and also try to realize them. Some of them are tangible, others perhaps rather unrealistic. But that's not what matters: what's important is that we refocus on exploring our own potential and daring to do something.
Co-Autor: Sebastian Stobbe
Camera: Gerardo Milsztein
Sound: Michael Arens, Thomas Funk
Montage: Birgit Köster
Music: Pluramon
Lyrik: Doris Schilz
Speaker: Dagmar Manzel
Sound-Design & Mischung: Jörg Höhne, Studio Mitte
Color Grading: Tobias Schaarschmidt, Studio Mitte Aufnahmeleitung
SCHNITTSTELLE: Tatjana Röhrig
Herstellungsleitung EIKON: Nick Pastucha
Produktionsleitung rbb: Rainer Baumert
Redaktion rbb: Rolf Bergmann
Ausführende Produzentin SCHNITTSTELLE: Astrid Vandekerkhove
Koproduzent ThurnFilm: Valentin Thurn
Koproduzent EIKON: Ulli Pfau
THURN FILM, an independent production company for documentary films,
was founded in 2003 by Valentin Thurn.
ThurnFilm GmbH
Neven-DuMont-Straße 14
50667 Köln
Tel.: +49 221 25 89 01 90
Produktion@ThurnFilm.de
ThurnFilm GmbH
Senefelderstrasse 77a
70176 Stuttgart
