Red, green and yellow dots are scattered across a map of Berlin on a computer screen. These dots are taxis crisscrossing the city; the computer tracking this data in Berlin-Adlershof. How do we remember the World Cup in Germany? That it was able to be such a “summer fairytale” had much to do with the fact that in the run-up to and during the event, a second reality existed – an invisible one – based on a traffic and safety concept from Adlershof.

At the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Martin Heinrich Ruhé researches into the “sustainable development of the megacities of tomorrow”. In particular focus are future-oriented ideas in traffic planning and the development of traffic control centers in line with the latest scientific discoveries. A police helicopter monitors traffic, flying over freeways and railway lines, people on shopping avenues and squares. Whether a World Cup, marathon or street festival, whether observed from a helicopter or a satellite, these are flows of movement that can be calculated. If the system can recognize these flows and “predict” their development, what else is it capable of? Can our paths through the city, our behavior be predetermined?

Architecturally speaking, Berlin became a capital city again in the blink of an eye, with a functioning government quarter and all the problems of an international metropolis. For the city had to adapt to international safety standards just as quickly. People swarming on Potsdamer Platz, Marlene-Dietrich-Platz, in shopping malls. The streets and squares appear on monitors not only inside the police’s traffic control center. Now more than ever, the question presents itself: how much safety do we need, and how much freedom are we prepared to give up to get it? Do the police officers with their machine guns in the central train station truly reassure us, or do they make us aware of the danger in the first place?

Safety is done differently these days, say the researchers at the DLR. The flows of people and goods leave electronic trails. Today’s smartphones have become external sensory organs, their abilities far beyond mere navigational and tracking functions. Targeted advertisements exist now, aimed at the tech-savvy flaneur. Those who turn these functions off today may draw suspicion to themselves tomorrow.

The researchers at the DLR are aware of the responsibility that comes with their work, but at the same time the security needs of city-dwellers are rising. One thing is certain: when real and digital flows combine, it makes visible something that we do not otherwise see as we go about our lives. The film shows the changing facets of life in the city, using Berlin, London, Paris and Zurich as examples. The viewer becomes tangibly aware of why we “overlook” so many things, and when we feel safe without thinking about it. Tangible, too, becomes the brittle balance between our need for security and our desire for freedom.

Directors: Dagmar Brendecke, Walter Brun
Cinematographers: Claus Judeich et al
Sound: Gerd Ehemann et al
Commissioning editors: SF (Switzerland) and rbb (Germany)
Managing producers: Anna Fanzun, Gunter Hanfgarn
Producer: Container TV, Bern (Jürg Neuenschwander)
Coproducer: Hanfgarn & Ufer
Sponsor: Berner Filmförderung