For over 40 years, composer Michael Jary and lyricist Bruno Balz were the most productive and successful duo in the German-speaking Schlager music scene and cinema. Their songs, such as “Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh’n“” and “Davon geht die Welt nicht unter”, both from 1942, helped elevate Zarah Leander to international stardom. They contributed music to 250 films, from elegant comedies of the Weimar era to ambivalent melodramas during the Third Reich and movies from the post-war Economic Miracle years.

IN THE SHADOWS OF DREAMS explores the tumultuous lives of these two artist friends – two biographies that could themselves serve as the script for a melodrama. Balz, as a gay man, was persecuted by the Nazi regime and only narrowly escaped concentration camp imprisonment thanks to Jary’s intervention. Jary claimed he could not deliver the songs required by the Propaganda Ministry for the film “Die große Liebe” (1942) without his lyricist.