Movies Similar to High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music

Tokyo Techno Tribes(2002)

Japanese cyber youth cultures have developed through the imaginative and novel use of technology. Underlying social, cultural and economic trends are examined such as Japan's unique, isolated island culture, the post-economic boom recession and changing attitudes towards the role of the corporation in work and career attitudes.

Free Party: A Folk History(2023)

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.

Berlin Calling(2008)

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.

XOXO(2016)

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

Love Parade: When Love Learned to Dance(2019)

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.

Brujas(2025)

Synergy: Visions of Vibe(1999)

This comprehensive documentary chronicles the underground rave culture in Southern California, one of its first American strongholds. With roots in a tribal past, this movement attempts to format the future of a truly global community by combining elements of electronic/percussive music, the psychedelic imagination, and mass dancing. From warehouses to mountain retreats to the deserts of the Mojave, an unseen world comes into clear focus; with kinetic camera work and candid interviews, this slice of visual anthropology probes the underbelly of a worldwide subculture with the help of some of electronic music's most acclaimed DJs, a technomusicologist, and a county sheriff. Open your mind to this moving entertainment experience and intimate portrait of a modern counter-culture that follows its own electronically induced beat.

Never Stop: A Music That Resists(2017)

Featuring the pioneers of techno music Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, and Jeff Mills, Never Stop takes us into the fascinating universe of techno labels in Detroit. This film highlights the deep roots of the creation, more than thirty years ago, by each of the African-American pioneers of techno music, of their own record labels.

Experimentuum(2024)

A dreamlike and hallucinatory dive into the depths of the human psyche.

All this Roughness(2020)

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. 

Universal Techno(1996)

This French-produced 1996 documentary is an hour-long piece covering the history of techno music from Detroit to Berlin Sheffield.

Propeler - subkultúry mládeže(2002)

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.

El sueño(2020)

In an apartment, a party is in full swing. Sitting on a sofa, Perez is hypnotized by a group of four girls facing him.

Welcome Home(2013)

This documentary gives a voice to organizers, DJs and party guests. Through their memories and confessions as well as unpublished videos and photos 20 years of history come back to life.

Heretik System: We Had A Dream(2010)

The film traces over 10 years of uninhibited activism by this modern tribe, from the first underground parties to the temples of showbiz society. The Heretik have climbed all the way to the legendary Olympia concert hall in Paris. Immerse yourself in the tormented intimacy of a leading counter-culture band.

Chicago in Time Lapse(1996)

"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."

Rauschen im Tal

Berliner Trance(1993)

This lost classic, shot on 16mm in a wintry Berlin in 1993, explores the origins of the German trance scene. Featuring interviews with fresh-faced selectors including Laurent Garnier and MFS Records founder Mark Reeder, the documentary also feature footage from the city's iconic Love Parades in 1991 and 1993.

Play The Dvd - Live(2001)

A Techno Tragedy(2024)

An explosion in the underground music scene is met by massive investment into Tucson, Arizona. Documentarian, Ty Besh, followed the scene from 2016 to 2018 showing the vast changes that happened to the people, venues, and scene in just 2 years. This Documentary serves as an archive and also a reminder to everyone in the DIY scenes across the world that moments come and go.