Private Project

A Most Dangerous Dream (Ein höchst gefährlicher Traum)

Two people with conflicting loyalties plan a protest against a controlling totalitarian regime.

Zwei Menschen mit widersprüchlichen Loyalitäten planen einen Protest gegen ein kontrollierendes totalitäres Regime.

Deux personnes aux loyautés contradictoires planifient une manifestation contre un régime totalitaire autoritaire.

  • Lloyd Frost
    Director
  • Lloyd Frost
    Writer
  • Thorolf Bergeler
    Key Cast
    "Uncle"
  • Fine Schmidt
    Key Cast
    "Aunt"
  • Michael Beyer
    Key Cast
    "STASI officer"
  • Lloyd Frost
    Key Cast
    "Nephew"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Ein höchst gefährlicher Traum
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Historical, Fiction, Narrative, Surreal
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 17, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada, Germany
  • Language:
    German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Lloyd Frost

Lloyd Frost is an Canadian filmmaker and songwriter. His multiple award-winning 2013 music video 'In Everyone's Eyes (en todas las miradas)' and the more pointed director’s cut 'In Everyone's Eyes – El ultimo! (2018) are poetic, slyly subversive looks at free speech and human rights in Cuba. 'The Sun Is Rising' (2015) music video asks if there is a key to talking about terrorism attacks. 'A Most Dangerous Dream' is his debut short film.

Lloyd's debut album ‘The Sun Is Rising & Other True Stories’ (2015) with genre-crossing tracks - rock, folk, classical - was released at a live performance at SAW Gallery, Ottawa with a concurrent exhibit of his film related images at Vistek. His travel stories and photographs have been published by The Boston Globe, The Globe and Mail, The Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers. Lloyd received his medical degree from McGill University, where he completed his residency in Psychiatry and served as Chief Resident in Psychiatry at the Montreal General Hospital. He lives in Ottawa.

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Lloyd Frost est un cinéaste et auteur-compositeur canadien. Son clip vidéo primé à plusieurs reprises en 2013 « In Everyone's Eyes (en todas las miradas) » et le montage plus pointu du réalisateur « In Everyone's Eyes – El ultimo ! (2018) sont des regards poétiques et sournoisement subversifs sur la liberté d'expression et les droits de l'homme à Cuba. Le clip vidéo « The Sun Is Rising » (2015) demande s'il existe une clé pour parler des attaques terroristes. « A Most Dangerous Dream » est son premier court métrage.

Le premier album de Lloyd, « The Sun Is Rising & Other True Stories » (2015), avec des morceaux qui mélangent les genres - rock, folk, classique - est sorti lors d'une performance live à la SAW Gallery, à Ottawa, avec une exposition simultanée de ses images liées au film à Vistek. . Ses récits de voyage et ses photographies ont été publiés par le Boston Globe, le Globe and Mail, le Sydney Morning Herald et d'autres journaux. Lloyd a obtenu son diplôme de médecine de l'Université McGill, où il a complété sa résidence en psychiatrie et a été résident en chef en psychiatrie à l'Hôpital général de Montréal. Il vit à Ottawa.

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Director Statement

“Give me absolute control / over every living soul” (Leonard Cohen, The Future) describes half the story of an authoritarian or totalitarian State. I’m interested in how people cope when their actions - or merely their words - can lead to calamity.

On one of my early visits to Berlin I stayed in the tallest apartment building constructed by the GDR during the years of the Berlin Wall. The concrete ceiling and walls isolated me from my neighbors but street sounds easily passed through the thin windows. I wondered - what had the original occupants heard and seen in those years?

At both the administrative headquarters and the secret Remand Prison in Berlin, exhibits show how the Stasi successfully spied not simply on its own citizens, but also had informers spy on friends and even family members. Then late one night in my GDR flat, as I listened to the S-Bahn from Alexanderplatz pass below, I wrote the title song 'Berlin Waltz'.

I was fortunate three friends of mine had lived in the divided Berlin and have an appreciation for those unusual years. Our locations ranged from period apartments to grand GDR monuments like the Tranenpalast - a checkpoint forbidden to all but a few East Berliners - and the metaphorical doorway for the characters in my film.