Independent Film Festival Boston 2009

Director Amy Grill in attendance.

“This is really small, but I mean . . . it’s okay.” One of the members of Berlin-based duo, Modeselektor, has just taken a look at the ironically named “Enormous Room” in Cambridge’s Central Square. In Berlin, Germany, they play to crowds of several thousand people. Tonight they will perform in for only 85.

SPEAKING IN CODE explores the present day techno music scene nearly 20 years after its conception in the Midwestern United States. Director Amy Grill’s intimate documentary debut delves into Boston’s small underground clubs as her husband, David Day, DJ and current arts and entertainment editor for The Weekly Dig, struggles to bolster techno’s popularity. Day pontificates, “It’s like the return of Jesus. You can’t guess the time and place,” while considering who might be the genre’s next big hit. Consumed by his passion for the music, Day takes major risks that end up costing him much more than his good credit score.

Offering up the stark contrast of Europe’s thriving electronic scene, Grill introduces us to artists such as Modeselektor, a production pair formed after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Wighnomy Brothers, a twosome with an affinity for vodka and emotion. With input from prominent music journalist Philip Sherburne, DJ Tobias Thomas, and one of techno’s greatest inventors, MonoLake, Grill weaves her story about the people behind this popular musical movement in Boston and overseas.

- Heather Eades