METROCOSMOS – Season 1
A five-part documentary series for arte/BR exploring European cities from the perspective of their subway systems.
Background & Idea
The documentary series “METROKOSMOS” is a five-part documentary project created in collaboration with arte and Bayerischer Rundfunk, focusing on European cities from an unusual perspective: their subway systems. As a documentary series about these metro networks, the project combines urban infrastructure with human stories, offering a new perspective on life underground. The series was produced through a collaboration between the production companies Seehund Media GmbH, inselfilm produktion GmbH, PLAESION Film+Vision, and inloops, together with the broadcasters arte and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR).
The first season takes viewers through five defining European metropolises: Naples, Prague, Vienna, Berlin and Paris. The focus is not only on the metro as a transport system, but above all on the urban life that unfolds within it every day. The series follows people whose daily lives are closely connected to stations, tunnels, and trains, thereby revealing the diversity of urban culture.
The subway is understood as a reflection of society. It is at once a technical system, a social space, and a cultural stage. Architecture, history, and urban dynamics converge here in a confined space, with both their positive and negative expressions. The documentary series METROCOSMOS makes visible how closely infrastructure and the identity of European cities are intertwined.
Moving away from traditional city portraits, METROCOSMOS deliberately shifts the focus underground. It is there that encounters, stories, and perspectives emerge that shape urban life but are rarely told. The series shows how much can be understood about a city by observing its metro—capturing the essence of urban life from the perspective of its subway systems.
Data on “METROCOSMOS – Season 1”:
by 17.12.2024
Episode 1 – NAPLES
The opening episode of the documentary series METROCOSMOS takes viewers to Naples, where the “Metropolitana di Napoli” is not just a means of transportation, but a cultural project. Despite archaeological challenges, geological risks, and complex construction conditions, a unique interplay of technology, art and urban life has emerged here.
The episode shows how strongly the mentality and spirit of this European city in Italy are reflected underground. The metro becomes an expression of urban culture and a place where social diversity is concentrated.
Among others, the episode follows architect Doriana Fuksas and art historian Maria Corbi, who are involved in the design and preservation of the artistically ambitious stations. At the same time, METROCOSMOS offers insights into alternative scenes: the graffiti artist Alpa represents a subcultural perspective on the metro, while the performer Metroman demonstrates how music and energy can transform public space.
Naples is thus portrayed as a city where art, everyday life, and the underground merge into a distinctive identity.
Episode 2 – PRAGUE
In Prague, the documentary series METROCOSMOS portrays a metro system that stands for efficiency, innovation, and technological precision. At the same time, it reveals a multifaceted cosmos of hidden labor, creative ideas, and everyday urban life.
Sound artist Charles Rose makes the acoustic dimension of the underground audible, opening up a new way of perceiving Prague’s metro. In parallel, the series follows the company EUDI, which reinterprets the perception of movement in urban space through visual experiments and explores how this can be used both commercially and culturally.
The city’s structural development also plays a central role. Architect Anna Švarc is involved in the expansion of the network and represents the ongoing transformation of European cities toward more public—and therefore more sustainable—transport systems. This perspective is complemented by insights into maintenance, cleaning, and the often invisible processes that keep the system running.
The episode presents Prague as a city where technology, creativity, and urban life are closely intertwined.
Episode 3 – VIENNA
The Vienna episode of the documentary series METROCOSMOS combines efficiency with cultural diversity. The modern network transports millions of people every day while also serving as a space for encounters, everyday life and creative expression.
The urban explorer aka_thecity leads viewers to hidden places beneath Vienna, revealing perspectives that usually remain unseen in daily life. At the same time, the series shows how seemingly functional spaces are transformed into sites of cultural activity—through spontaneous music sessions, performative experiments, or techno parties.
Musicians such as Onk Lou use the metro as a resonant space for their art, while creatives like Julia Petschnika speak about the tension between international openness and local identity.
In this way, the documentary series METROCOSMOS presents Vienna as a vibrant city in which urban culture is continuously reinvented underground.
Episode 4 – BERLIN
In the documentary series METROCOSMOS, Berlin represents creative freedom and cultural diversity. With the largest subway network in Germany, the city forms a dynamic space where art, music and urban life unfold intensely and increasingly blur into one another.
The artist collective Rocco and his brothers use the metro as an experimental stage, pushing the boundaries between public space and art installation. At the same time, the series highlights the architectural dimension, for example at the Museumsinsel station, whose design sets new standards in the urban environment.
Photographers such as Anton Hangschlitt document life underground, capturing the atmosphere of Berlin’s metro. Musicians like Infidelix demonstrate how strongly acoustic spaces can influence creative work.
Berlin is thus portrayed as a city whose underground is a reflection of its open and multifaceted identity.
Episode 5 – PARIS
The Paris metro marks the conclusion of the documentary series, presenting a system of enormous scale and complexity. With millions of passengers every day, it is a central part of urban life and at the same time a space of constant transformation.
One key focus is the expansion of the Grand Paris Express, which is redefining the future of the metro in this European city and the way people move within it. Designer Ruedi Bauer provides insights into the development of modern wayfinding systems that meet the demands of growing metropolises.
Artists and performers such as Oddateee, Ekton, and Victor Lainé present different perspectives on the metro, ranging from musical inspiration to spectacular boundary-pushing experiences in urban space.
At the same time, the series gives a voice to the people who use the metro every day. Their stories make it clear that the underground is far more than infrastructure—it is a central element of identity, everyday life, and urban culture in European cities.
CREDITS
A SERIES BY Timo Novotny
CREATIVE PRODUCER Sebastian Rieker
SCREEN DESIGN Timo Novotny
CAMERA Florian Stratenwerth
ADDITIONAL CAMERA Luka Ljubicic, Martin Kleinmichel, Yana Kadurina, Timo Novotny, Sebastian Rieker
SOUND Martin Kleinmichel (Berlin, Paris), Antonio Casparriello (Naples), Franz Moritz (Vienna), Jan Lakota (Prague), Michal Stolicka (Prague), Filip Slavik (Prague)
TYPEFACE Nik Thönen / Binnenland
RESEARCH Clara Scheiner (STEP/HFM), Katherina Lörsch
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH Katica De Pascale (Naples), Katherina Lörsch (Berlin), Maren Hollmann (Paris), Pavel Borecky (Prague), Peter Janecek (Vienna), Pavel Borecký (Prague)
PRODUCERS Gregor Streiber, Peter Janecek, Sebastian Rieker, Timo Novotny, Friedemann Hottenbacher
LINE PRODUCER Jonathan Thiemeier
HEAD OF POSTPRODUCTION Leonard Mink
EDITING Yannik Pföhler, Leonard Mink, Timo Novotny, Oli Jess
EDITING ASSISTANCE Louisa Göttelmann (STEP/HFM), Luka Ljubicic, Tobias Dierl
VFX & COLOR GRADING Ebo Rose
MUSIC Markus Kienzl (Sofa Surfers)
MIX AND MASTERING Bernhard Schedelberger
MOTION DESIGN Ralf Ott
PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE Steven Melzer, Paulo Muenchrath
ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE Clara Scheiner (STEP/HFM), Katica De Pascale (Naples), Alba Luisa Pitocco (Naples), Katherina Lörsch (Berlin), Rica Hollmann (Paris), Maren Hollmann (Paris), Yana Kadurina (Prague), Peter Janecek (Vienna)
CO-AUTHORS E.L. Petschinka, Katarzyna Kalinska, Sarah Torribio, Harald Salaun
MAKE-UP NAPLES Maddalena Taliento
WITH NAPLES Metro Man, Doriana Fuksas, Vinento Durano, Maria Corbi, Alpa, Gaetano Manfredi
WITH BERLIN Rocco and his brothers, Anton Hangschlitt, Dr. Verena Pfeiffer-Kloss, MC Santana, Infidelix & “Mike” (R.I.P.), Bonny
WITH PARIS Oddateee, Ruedi Baur, Ilyane Bechikh, Pauline Vanderquand, Thomas Poly, Victor Lainé, Ekton & Freed, Felix & Hugo Kimberly-Bowen
WITH PRAGUE Charles Rose, Anna Švarc, Tom Procházka, Milada Rezková, Anežka Čižinská, Viola Čižinská, Vojtěch Černý, Vladimir518, EPOS, Krstftb & Chcanklinn
WITH VIENNA Onk Lou, Julius Rettl, Oliver Dadsetan, Julia Petschinka, Christian Nebois, Manuel Gras & Jochen Höller, Aka_thecity, Valerie Simons & Laura Farrensteiner
PASSENGERS & INTERVIEWS NAPLES Lukas Mazzola, Ahmed Morano, Mohamed Morano, Rosanna Fatieoso, Somia Sabatino, Rüa Di Lorenzo, Tomaso Giagueddu, Anna Careddi, Alessandra Cioffi, Giorgio Battaglia, Katica De Pascale, Antonio Casparriello, Alba Luisa Pitocco
PASSENGERS & INTERVIEWS BERLIN @U-Bahnfreund, @moonarr, @_nowhere101, @satireweb, @skate_in_berlin, @nachtclubsberlin, @marlopitek, @sofiskrrrt, @bianca.radoslav, @erasmous, @rafi_siin
PASSENGERS & INTERVIEWS PARIS Alexandre Ebe Wenceslas, Hawa Coulilaly, Raphael Lavie, Myriam Colina, Pauline Makon, Maren Hollmann, Kévin Laclautre, Yohann Milan, Nicolas Zanini
PASSENGERS & INTERVIEWS PRAGUE Matteo Clement, Eliška Novotná, Romana Šmejkalová, Jakub Jan Musli, Romana Polivkova, Natalie Golovchenko, Clara Isabella Andrews, Šárle Sdarz, Yana Fedinets, Yana Kadurina, Daniel Šabík, Stanislav Brtna, Josef Visura, & EUDI: Tomáš Soukup, Vlastimil Kotrbatý, Petr Maňas, Miloslav Kopp
PASSENGERS & INTERVIEWS VIENNA Evamaria Trischak, Samuel Hafner, Rigel & Christine Flamond, Sherri Spelic, Franziska Reinecke, Saedi Tania, Simone Richter, René Kufner, Riana Sulic, Martine & Vianya-Elena Maierhofer, Christoph Wiesinger, Katharina Haiböck, Malidalena Axmann, Valentina Weiser, Robert Ziffer-Teschenbruck, Kaynak Hüs, Jdeanka Vanekova
METRO NAPLES AZIENDA NAPOLETANA MOBILITÀ S.p.A. Maria Corbi, Dr. Alfonso Nezzacapo
METRO BERLIN BERLINER VERKEHRSBETRIEBE Monika Schulz
METRO PARIS RATP — RÉGIE AUTONOME DES TRANSPORTS PARISIENS Karine Lehongre-Richard, Pierre Audiger
METRO PARIS SOCIÉTÉ DU GRAND PARIS EXPRESS Étienne Minari, Matthieu Ducol
METRO PARIS LA FABRIQUE DU MÉTRO Coraline Knoff, Integral designers
METRO PRAGUE DOPRAVNÍ PODNIK HL. M. PRAHY, a. s. Daniel Šabík, Jan Štojdl, Jindřich Novodvorský
METRO VIENNA WIENER LINIEN Ingeborg Fritz, Deborah Giehrl, Herbert Hartenthaler, Christian Mladik, Ingrid Monsberger-Köchler, Martina Rehse, Roman Zach, Andrea Zefferer
EDITORIAL Petra Felber (BR), Martin Kowalczyk (BR), Sonja Scheider (BR ARTE), Katja Ferwagner (BR ARTE), Katja Dünnebacke (ARTE Germany), Caroline Mutz (ARTE G.E.I.E.), Markéta Štinglová (ČT), Barbora Svobodová (ČT), Jakub Mahler (ČT), Daniela Šantrochová (ČT), Gerald Heidegger (ORF)
FUNDING FERNSEHFONDS AUSTRIA, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmfonds Wien
BEST BOY Loris Novotny
SOUND DESIGN Urs Hauck
VOICE-OVER Gordon Piedesack, Patrick Lamb, Nina West, Mai Horlemann, Harry Kühn
ADDITIONAL VOICES Tom Vogt, Loris Novotny (Paris), Philippos Janecek (Paris)
SPECIAL THANKS TO Onno Ehlers, Katica De Pascale, Celina Melzer, Jennifer Nemes, Luke Bliedtner, Loris Novotny, Svende Biere, Thomas Gieferl, Filip Bival, Bernd Schulz, Allan Mena, Sieglinde Herzog, a_kiwara, Tereza Horská, Zdeněk Blaha (IDF), Anna Kaslová (IDF), Veronika F. Dvořáčková (IDF), Ivana P. Miloševičová (IDF)
© INSELFILM / SEEHUND MEDIA / PLAESION FILM / INLOOPS // ARTE / BR / ČT / ORF, 2024