Red, green and yellow dots in a city map of Berlin on a computer screen. The points are taxis traveling around the city, the computer that records the data is in Berlin-Adlershof. What do we remember from the World Cup in Germany? A summer fairy tale? The fact that this was the case had a lot to do with the fact that a second reality existed – virtually invisibly – before and during the event, based on a traffic and safety concept from Adlershof.

Martin Heinrich Ruhé researches the “sustainable development of tomorrow’s megacities” at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The focus of our work is on future-oriented approaches to traffic planning and the development of traffic control centers based on the latest scientific findings. A flight with a police traffic control helicopter over motorways and railway lines, people in shopping streets and squares. Whether it’s a world championship, a marathon or a street festival, viewed from a helicopter or from a satellite, these are flows of movement that can be calculated. If the system can detect these flows and “predict” their evolution, what else can it do? Can our paths through the city and our behavior be predetermined?

Architecturally, Berlin quickly became the capital again, with a functioning government district and the problems of an international metropolis. The city had to adapt just as quickly to international standards when it came to security. People on Potsdamer Platz, Marlene-Dietrich-Platz, in the shopping arcades. Streets and squares are “monitored” not only in the police traffic control center. Right now the question arises: how much security do I need and how much freedom am I willing to give for it? Are the federal police with their submachine guns in the main station really calming? Or do they just make us aware of the danger?

The researchers at DLR say: Security is done differently today. Flows of people and goods leave electronic traces. Today’s smartphones are already outsourced sensory organs with far more capabilities than simple navigation and location functions. If desired, there are already targeted advertising messages for technology-obsessed strollers. Anyone who switches off the functions may become suspicious in a few years.

The researchers at DLR are aware of the responsibility of their work, but at the same time the need for security among people in cities is increasing. One thing is certain: When real and digital streams combine, something becomes visible that we don’t notice in everyday life. The film shows the changing facets of life in the city using Berlin, London, Paris and Zurich as examples. The viewer really notices why we “overlook” a lot of things and when we feel safe without thinking about it. The fragile balance between our need for security and the desire for freedom can also be experienced viscerally.

Director: Dagmar Brendecke, Walter Brun
Camera: Claus Judeich et al
Sound: Gerd Ehemann et al
Editorial Staff: SF (Schweiz) und rbb (Deutschland)
Productionn lead: Anna Fanzun, Gunter Hanfgarn
Production: Container TV, Bern (Jürg Neuenschwander)
Co-Production: Hanfgarn & Ufer
Funding: Berner Filmförderung