Battle Royal Studios co-produced the feature-length documentary film Symphony of Now, in collaboration with Audi Zeitgeist Projects, Dreinull and Endorphine Productions. Premiered on the eve of the 2018 Berlinale, the film explores the relationship between the inhabitants of Berlin and their city, and is driven by an original symphonic soundtrack.

A Hybrid Film Experience

The film directed by Johannes Schaff pays tribute to the vibrant energy of Berlin. Based on Walter Ruttmann’s 1927 avantgarde film „Berlin – Die Sinfonie der Großstadt“, the contemporary re-imagining follows the rhythms of Berlin at night across urban panoramas to secret corners and intimate moments.

A full cinema auditorium photographed from the stage, the audience seated in tiered rows behind a foreground table of synthesisers, laptops and mixing equipment.
A musician working at a modular synthesiser rig densely strung with patch cables, lit from behind by vertical rows of warm filament bulbs.
Two musicians playing synthesisers side by side on a dark stage, blue projected light patterning their faces, hands and instruments.

Using filmmakers Lil Internet’s and Alexandra Weltz-Rombach‘s unique camera work in addition to his own cinematography, Schaff creates a kaleidoscope of images to capture the modern metropolis.

This journey through the city is accompanied by a soundtrack as captivating and dynamic as the city itself – a score curated and produced by Frank Wiedemann of Innervisions.

A musician seated at a keyboard synthesiser on a darkened stage, reading from a lit music stand while playing.
Four people in winter coats standing together for a photograph in front of a large red backdrop printed with an illustrated city skyline.

He collaborated with Berlin-based musicians such as Modeselektor, Samon Kawamura, Gudrun Gut, and Thomas Fehlmann, building improvisations around the original film material. The new film was then cut to match this score.

The result is not only a rare cinematic document of modern Berlin, but a testament to the musical innovation born of Berlin’s creative environment.

The film premiered in February 2018 at the Delphi Theatre Berlin featuring live performances by the musicians.

Symphony of Now is an Audi Zeitgeist Project and Battle Royal Studios’ second collaboration with the initiative following Zeitgeist Symbiosis in 2015.

A night street beneath a railway bridge, with a large illuminated billboard showing a car and four interlocking rings projected in light onto the wet pavement.

Credits

  • Client

    Audi City Berlin
    DREINULL Agentur für mediatainment

  • BRS — Show Production & Stage Management

    Pappel Studios
    Executive Producer
    Endorphine Productions
    Producer
    Johannes Schaff
    Film Director, Camera, Editor
    Lil Internet
    Camera
    Alexandra Weltz-Rombach
    Camera
    Philipp Dreißig
    Camera
    Frank Marten Pfeiffer
    Camera
    Bobby Good
    Editor
    Steffen Schmidt
    Editor
    Julian Neville
    Editor
    Robert Sieg
    Editor
    Sammy Metwalli
    Editor
    Frank Wiedemann and guests
    Composition & Production
    Hans-Joachim Roedelius
    Musician
    Samon Kawamura
    Musician
    Gudrun Gut & Thomas Fehlmann
    Musician
    Modeselektor
    Musician
    Alex.Do
    Musician

  • Images

    Marcus Zumbansen

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