We all know the smoky voice, the suits, the glamour. Less present to this day is what impresses us most about Marlene Dietrich: her stance. Despite great promises, she refused to support National Socialist propaganda. She took US citizenship, sang for the soldiers, and had to watch from afar as her homeland fell apart. A life between glamour and abyss, and not a single willingness to compromise.
This is exactly where "Glanz & Widerstand" begins. The campaign was realized within the Berlin funding programme to combat antisemitism, and its aim was to make Dietrich's legacy of civil courage and decency visible. Not as a nostalgic memory, but as a question for us today: what do we stand up for when it becomes uncomfortable? Our thanks go to the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt, whose support made this possible.
That was the heart of it for us: to tell a historical figure in a way that sparks something in the present. Dietrich's stance against hatred and propaganda is not a closed chapter, it is a benchmark. It was this connection of memory and stance that we wanted to carry into the city, and to an audience that might not otherwise engage with this history.
The campaign rooted in the immersive ballet performance by the Berlin Ballett Company.
For us, "Glanz & Widerstand" shows how we work: a socially relevant subject, a clear stance, and public funding that carries it all. From the idea to the application to delivery.
