Using the framing story of a man who discovers how to craft and sell dreams to a series of anxious clients, Richter allotted each dream (seven in all) to various Surrealists/Dadaists; Max Ernst, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and Alexander Calder amongst others. For four decades one of the most influential members of the cinematic avant-garde Hans Richter's ‘Dreams That Money Can Buy', shot for just $25,000, went on to win the Venice Film Festival Award for the best original contribution to the progress of cinematography.