Technomania

The Techno and rave cultures have never been documented as appetizingly as they are in this superb, thoroughly researched, Danish video documentary. For more than six years Frants Pandal travelled the world, with his Betacam tucked under his arm He has brought back interviews and recordings of concerts in London, Berlin, Goa, Ko-Phangan, you name it. In his unique portrait of a youth culture which has many things in common with the hippie movement, the director focuses deliberately on beauty, creativity and energy. The mainstream media have tended to focus on the reverse of the coin, namely the widespread use of drugs. One self-righteous British MP, defending the Criminal Justice Bill, which would make "repetitive music" illegal, has been given a computer-generated halo, but otherwise Technomania stresses the people and the music, typical of the scene.