Four lives that could not be more different and a single passion that unites them: the unconditional love for their cinemas, somewhere at the end of the world. COMRADES IN DREAMS brings together six cinema makers from North Korea, America, India and Africa and follows their efforts to make their audiences dream every night. In doing so, the film dives into a set of fascinating lives where stories from the everyday and from the silver screen frequently merge into something magical. Written by ha 892 They live thousands of kilometres apart from one another and yet are chasing the same dream. In COMRADES IN DREAMS, we meet people whose lives revolve around cinema. One of them is Han Jong Sil, the North Korean with the unforgettable smile. She loves life - even one in which she is torn between propaganda, her own dreams and crop reports. She wants to improve the quality of other peoples' existence by showing them films. Vulnerable, lonely and full of longing, she dazzles like a comet above a sea of uniformity. Penny Tefertiller from Wyoming, USA, too, has dedicated her life to serving the community, channelling her considerable energies into providing a meeting point for the young and the lonely. There is a hint of missionary zeal about her as she tries to make her dream of the cinema come true - rather like Han Jong Sil, she is passionate and brimming over with good intention. Lassane and his friends Luc and Zakaria from Ouagadougou are self-confident and full of beans. They have risked everything to set up a cinema in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. There is truly a lot at stake for them: they have neglected their families to freefall into an economic adventure. And all to breathe new life into a rather run down open- air cinema. For Indian Anup, in contrast, business could not be brisker. His cinema tent is bursting at its own seams when he shows the latest hits from the Maharashtra region. His blessings of his precious film reels at the local temple and unerring instinct for a good film have made him the uncrowned "King of the Travelling Cinema". But the real show, of course, takes place outside of the cinemas. We get the chance to savour repeatedly the entertaining stories occurring in the orbit of these entertainment palaces. Tears shed for the Great Leader, cowboys at church, jealous wives and how the Titanic came to North Korea are just a few of the anecdotes shared with us, all told in loving detail. The unifying power of dreams brings our heroes close together. And the great quest for a little happiness is a constant leitmotif and reminds us that the best stories are not only told on screen. e6d Written by ha