film

Another highlight among highlights at the music doc festival In-Edit, which runs at Mooby Aribau from October 23 to November 2, God Said Give Em Drum Machines is a superb 2022 documentary directed by Kristian R Hill that explores the untold origins of Detroit techno. The film focuses on the visionary, trailblazing Black artists Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Eddie Fowlkes and Blake Baxter, whose revolutionary sounds and use of technology in the 1980s shaped global electronic music. Their influence has too often been understated, an injustice this film strives to redress.

Produced by Jennifer Washington, the film balances nostalgia with critique and investigation, celebrating the music’s joy and never shying away from the pain of creative erasure. Through rare archival footage, interviews and vibrant storytelling, Hill traces how these young musicians took the inspiration of the likes of Kraftwerk and Parliament-Funkadelic, fused it with the atmosphere of the decaying industrial landscape around them, and invested what became known as techno. Head to https://es.in-edit.org/ for In-Edit's characteristically impressive full schedule.