“Berlin: Symphony of a Great City is in many ways the symphony of any great metropolis. It captures Berlin exhaling the fumes of productivity, the sensations of modernity and the vitality that comes with the German people trying to find a better way upward or forward. By having lived in Berlin Mitte for about a decade, I have fond and special memories attached to it—ones that have made working on this particularly unique, and unlike any film project I ever worked on. Understanding Berlin firsthand, and having a knowledge of the vast differences between day and night there, helped me greatly in shaping the peripheral view and soundtrack for the film.” – Jeff Mills

Jeff Mills is set to present a live soundtrack to Walther Ruttman’s 1927 film Berlin: die Sinfonie der Großstadt or Berlin: Symphony of a Great City on March 8 at Hackesche Höfe Kino in Berlin. The evening also marks the German premiere of his cinemix for the film. The film carries a special meaning to Mills whose connection to Berlin dates back to 1991 and the early days of Tresor.

The Detroit-born DJ and producer is no stranger to the world of art, crossing the boundaries between music and other facets of the creator’s realm especially with regard to cinema and silent films. Jeff Mills has an immense fascination for science fiction, space, and futurism, concepts that are intertwined into his creative pursuits. In the early 2000s, Mills composed a soundtrack for Fritz Lang’s classic Metropolis, followed by another cinemix for Lang’s 1929 film The Woman In The Moon.

Back in 2015, Jeff Mills curated an exhibition series for Le Louvre museum in Paris titled “Duos Ephémères.” He also collaborated with sound artist and designer Yuri Suzuki to produce a Battle LA inspired drum machine called “The Visitor,” ultimately uniting conceptualizations about two distinct sensory forms of art: sound and matter.