In keeping with the "Neues Bauen" of the 1920s, the modernisation of the European metropolis after 1945 aimed to create better living conditions for the working population. Housing space was in short supply everywhere. Industrial mass production and consumer culture confronted people and their social relationships with enormous changes. The medium of film served as a means both to promote the urban and transportation models "of tomorrow", and to lend expression to critiques of the rationalisation of everyday life. This selection of documentary and experimental short films offers a unique historical glimpse into the controversy over the modern city.

Featured titles:
– Pontus Hultén & Hans Nordenström, 'En dag i staden' (A Day in the City), 1956, Sweden, 19 min.
– Rudi Hornecker, 'Für einen Platz an der Sonne' (For a Place in the Sun), 1959, West Germany, 10 min.
– Herbert Vesely, 'Die Stadt' (The City), 1960, West Germany, 36 min.
– Dieter Lemmel, 'Bau 60' (Building 60), 1961, West Germany, 12 min.
– Peter Weiss, 'Bag de ens facader' (Behind the Same Façades), 1961, Denmark, 27 min.
– Manfred Durniok, 'Die gemordete Stadt' (The Murdered City), 1965, West Germany, 40 min.
– Bonus: Maximilian von Goldbeck & Erich Kotzer, 'Die Stadt von Morgen – Ein Film vom Städtebau' (The City of Tomorrow: A Film on City Planning), 1930, Germany, 33 min.

This DVD was made in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut and KW Institute for Contemporary Art and was supported by the Danish Film Institute, Deutsche Kinemathek, and Filmform.

Note: Includes works in German, Danish, and Swedish with subtitles in German, English, French, and Spanish. Includes a booklet in German.