Universal Techno

A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.

Dance music has spread across the world transcending religious & racial barriers connecting to the hearts and souls of millions. People have always felt the rhythm of music and have as a result evolved countless dance styles throughout the ages. Beginning in the late 80's in Melbourne's underground dance music party scene, a revolutionary freestyle dance began to grow and has now developed into the most unique and robust underground dance style since the birth of Breakdancing. The Melbourne Shuffle has no set steps but encourages individuality and imagination, incorporating dance moves from numerous styles such as miming, popping & locking, liquid and breaking.

A man tours clubs around the globe with his manager and girlfriend. On the eve of their largest album release he is admitted to a psychiatric clinic after overdosing at a gig.

The film follows the inception of the movement, a meeting between ravers and the new age travellers during Thatcher's last days in power, and the explosive years that followed, leading up the infamous Castlemorton free festival in 1992 - the largest ever illegal rave, which provoked the drastic change of the laws of trespass with the notorious introduction of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994.

"At the beginning of the 19th century there is no Chicago. There was a fort that was set on fire by Indians shortly thereafter. Later, the turbulent expansion of a settlement began, which became a center for the immigrant workforce, traditional industry, slaughterhouses, and, in 1941, armaments for war. The Windy City on Lake Michigan is the fastest changing city in the world. This 35mm Arriflex film time-lapse footage is annotated with classic techno cuts and information about the tunnels under Chicago, the slaughterhouses, organized crime, Sears & Roebuck catalogs and other peculiarities of this strange city."

As noted on back-cover: "The 27th of November 1993 the Jaarbeurs Utrecht was the location of the biggest and most spectacular house event in European history. 20.000 Ravers, 160 K Sound, 500.000 Watts of Lights, 12 DJ's, 5 Live Acts and the famous Thunderdome Octopus. Witness the unbelievable "Wall Of Sound", hypnotizing lights, lasers, video effects and of course the Thundertruck."

New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert unpack a playlist of electro, pop and new wave classics spanning four decades. Stephen and Gillian have been married for 24 years and have been in New Order together for even longer, but they still manage to surprise one another with their musical tastes. While Stephen declares Captain Beefheart an early influence, Gillian confesses her teenage love for a disco classic. During an hour of top tunes, Stephen also reveals the moment he was mistaken for Stevie Wonder, and Gillian recalls how her Dad was a fan of punk. From Kraftwerk to Can, David Bowie to Kate Bush, Magazine to Grace Jones and many more, this stellar playlist by Stephen and Gillian is brimming with iconic performances.

At the end of the Cold War, something new arised that should influence an entire generation and express their attitude to life. It started with an idea in the underground subculture of Berlin shortly before the fall of the Wall. With the motto "Peace, Joy, Pancakes", Club DJ Dr. Motte and companions launched the first Love Parade. A procession registered as political demonstration with only 150 colorfully dressed people dancing to house and techno. What started out small developed over the years into the largest party on the planet with visitors from all over the world. In 1999, 1.5 million people took part. With the help of interviews with important organizers and contemporary witnesses, the documentary reflects the history of the Love Parade, but also illuminates the dark side of how commerce and money business increasingly destroyed the real spirit, long before the emigration to other cities and the Love Parade disaster of Duisburg in 2010, which caused an era to end in deep grief.

Massive Attack perform in Moscow as part of their world tour supporting Heligoland.

Back in February of 2005, Massive Attack and Portishead shared the stage for the first time ever whilst preforming live as a part of the fund raising concert for the Tsunami Crisis in Asia @ the Bristol Academy.

In the final days of the yuppie decade, the summer of ’89 saw a new type of youth rebellion rip through the cultural landscape, with thousands of young people dancing at illegal Acid House parties in fields and aircraft hangars around the M25. Set against the backdrop of ten years of Thatcherism, it was a benign form of revolution, dubbed the Second Summer of Love – all the ravers wanted was the freedom to party… The rave scene, along with the drug Ecstasy, broke down social barriers and even football hooligans were ‘loved up’, solving a problem the government had never managed to crack. But lurid tabloid headlines and cat-and-mouse games with the police eventually turned the dream sour, as the gangster element moved in at the end of the summer.

An unnamed passer-by is forced to trace a circular route inside an abandoned tram station, facing loss and time. The broken walls act as a channel, transmitting fragmentary, blurred and analogical memories. 

XOXO follows six strangers whose lives collide in one frenetic, dream-chasing, hopelessly romantic night.

Erasure--Hits: The Videos plays in Dolby stereo, with some of the later videos being 16:9 format. Disc 2 includes exclusive performance footage, rare videos and tracks performed live on all of Erasure's major tours. Six lengthy promotional documentaries from 2001 to 2003 are included, which feature interviews with the pair. Hidden bonus footage has also been crammed on to the disc. The only downside is the clumsy menus, which are difficult to navigate and are not all that pleasing to the eye. --John Galilee

Brujas

The history of trance music between Goa and Tel Aviv. During their annual leave, young active duty Israeli soldiers discover the path to a new techno music genre: Goa trance is born.

October 5th, at 10.30 pm , after pope John-Paul II`s blessing of Lyon from the top of Fourvieres hill, Rendez-Vous Lyon got under way, a concert performed for more than 800,000 people on the banks of the river Saone. Fourvieres hill was ablaze for ninety minutes, fired on by cannons of light, fireworks and images synchronised to music being performed live on the central stage by Jean-Michel Jarre, 60 musicians and 120 choristers. A baroque feast, blending classical and avant-garde, workmanship and high-tech, past and future, Rendez-Vous Lyon will long be remembered as an exceptional event.

Destination Docklands was an event consisting of two concerts by musician Jean Michel Jarre on the Royal Victoria Docks, Docklands, London on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October 1988, to coincide with the release of Jarre's new album Revolutions. The concerts were attended by 100,000 people on each night.

Jean Michel Jarre held a concert at the Gammel Vrå Enge Windmill Park near the city of Aalborg in Denmark, on September 7, 2002, with 40,000 spectators (including 5,000 VIPs)

The concept for the film was developed based on sociological research conducted as part of the Youth Subcultures conference in collaboration with the Institute of Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The film’s core value lies in its ability to provide an inside look at selected subcultures, achieving an exceptional level of engagement with their members. The filmmakers managed to break through the participants' initial reluctance to openly discuss their experiences. The documentary directly addresses key aspects of these subcultures, including drugs, faith, and personal beliefs. It focuses on six specific groups: the techno scene, graffiti artists, antifascists, religiously oriented youth, skinheads, and young people inspired by Eastern spirituality. The film includes footage from illegal rave parties, graffiti sessions, and other underground activities. Overall, the documentary serves as an insightful map of Bratislava’s contemporary alternative scene.