DREAM BOAT
by Tristan Ferland Milewski
SYNOPSIS
A cruise ship and 3,000 men: a universe that usually remains a mystery to the outside world. Once a year the DREAM BOAT sets sail on a cruise exclusively for gay men where most passengers are united by the wish to live and love authentically as themselves in a protected place. The countdown is on. Seven days of hunting for freedom, love and happiness under the southern sun are about to begin. But once on board, personal stories and hidden pasts find their way to the surface...
With heart und humor, the film follows five men from five countries on the quest for their dreams, far from family, social, and political restrictions. The passengers come from 89 nations. For many of them, it is dangerous to live openly in their home countries. For months, they have been eagerly awaiting this journey. Now, bodies are pumped and suitcases are filled with push-up swimwear and glamorous costumes. Sun, sea, naked skin and a lot of testosterone stoke the vibes. Day and night, time and space melt with the rhythm of party music. But along this dreamy journey, above all, the five men are confronted with themselves and some feel it can also be quite lonely despite being surrounded by 3,000 potential future partners. Thus, the blissful cruise unexpectedly becomes a soul-searching experience—a voyage to the depths of emotion on the wide open seas.
DETAILS
90 mins
2017
Germany
English
.png)
TRAILER
CREDITS
Written and directed by Tristan Ferland Milewski
Produced by Christian Beetz - Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion
In coproduction with ZDF
In association with ARTE
Cinematography by Jörg Junge, Jakob Stark
Edited by Markus CM Schmidt
Music composition and production by My Name is Claude
Funded by Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Federal Government Representative for Culture and Media (BKM)
BIOGRAPHY
DIRECTOR - TRISTAN FERLAND MILEWSKI
Since 1993 Tristan Ferland Milewski works as a director and developer of documentary films, documentations, documentary broadcast formats, short films and music videos. After his studies of photo/film design at FH Dortmund and he was working as a director for music films and documentaries in London. In 1999 Tristan Ferland Milewski returned to Berlin to help shape MTV Networks Germany as a director and senior producer of documentary broadcast formats. At the time he portrayed most contemporary class A musicians. From 2005 to 2007, with the merger of MTV Networks and VIVA, Tristan Ferland Milewski set up the factual department and was responsible for all self-produced VIVA/MTV network documentary broadcast formats. Since 2012 Tristan Ferland Milewski closely collaborates as a director and developer with Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion. The documentary series „Make Love – One can learn how to make love“ (gebrueder beetz filmproduktion/ZDF/MDR/SWR), that he wrote and directed, was nominated for the German TV Award 2017, the Grimme Online Award 2014 and received over 200 favorable press reviews. Moreover, he loves sharing his knowledge in the departments of story development, dramaturgy, and documentary work regularly as a lecturer; in 2015 he was a jury member of Sehsüchte film festival of Film-universität Babelsberg Konrad Wolff.
SELECT FESTIVALS
BERLINALE 2017〡BIOGRAFILM 2017〡OUTFEST 2017〡HUMEN FILM FESTIVAL 2017
PRESS
"Ultimately, love is love. Anyone who wishes to be reminded of this beautiful fact in all its glory need look no further than Milewski’s stunning documentary."
- Movie Pilot
"That the film concentrates on this multi-ethnic group and their emotional and physical issues makes it clear that the filmmaker is not interested in simply exploiting the setting for its cliched camp value. But that doesn’t mean that DREAM BOAT isn’t above celebrating the setting’s hedonistic aspects."
- The Hollywood Reporter
"DREAM BOAT goes beyond the assless trunks. (….) and offers an alluring, global vision of gay life in the flesh."
- Village Voice
"The true genius of Milewski’s film lies in the way he singlehandedly destroys the differences that we think divide the heterosexual experience from those of the members of the LGBT community. In DREAM BOAT he shows us once and for all that each of us needs, craves and wants the same thing: Someone to love us, for exactly who we are."
- Huffington Post
"The film centers on a cruise ship full of gay men, and follows five men from five countries on a quest for connection and freedom. The five men on the ship are natives of Austria, France, India, Palestine, and Poland. International waters provide the opportunity for them to share their hopes and dreams while celebrating their lives without judgment."
- Variety