Velocity of Being
2001, 70’, 3sat

When humans became human, they were nomads. Then they settled down -  but just the same, they remained nomads. In never-ending momentum – moving faster and faster. First using animal power, then using the horse-power of machines. In the documentary “The Velocity of Being” director Susanne  Brandstätter uses India’s railroad as a vehicle, to document this change and at the same time to explore how far technology has contributed to the positive development of mankind. The idea and impetus for the film was given by Austrian artist Werner Dornik, with his multi-medial project “The Journey from Technic to Techno”, which called attention two years long to the dangers of technology.

The television crew, accompanied by Werner Dornik, traveled and filmed throughout India a month long. Impressive images of landscapes and metropolises make up the backdrop upon which the wishes, desires and thoughts of the film’s protagonists are projected. From a rickshaw-puller to the director of the Indian space technology program, from pop-star Madonna’s guru to the general director of India’s largest bio-tech company. “The Velocity of Being” shows people as "travelers" and focuses on  technology’s influence, as well as its excess or absence, in daily life.