On September 5th, 2008, 80 camera teams under the supervision of French/German TV station Arte were busy for 24 hours to capture the lives of common and rather uncommon Berliners. The result is a stunning portrait of a metropolis struggling with the demands of the 21st century. Exactly one year after the shooting, the program was broadcast within 24 hours without interruption. For all those who missed it, it’s available on DVD by now, and definitely worth the time.

Without any doubt, the one thing Berlin is known for musically is techno, so it appears as a matter of course that one of the principal heroes of the local scene was asked to compose music for the project. Thomas Fehlmann‘s Gute Luft, released on Kompakt, perfectly complements the program’s mood, hence the city’s, though a lot of the album’s tracks weren’t used for the documentary eventually. But after all, this doesn’t affect the work’s quality.

Thomas Fehlmann – Permanent Touch (via NME)