Richie Hawtin has taken on the duties of an executive producer for a new short film on Detroit’s techno culture in the early ‘90s.
Titled ‘Kids Like Us,’ the film revolves around the underground electronic music scene in the early ‘90s in Detroit and sees “a group of misfits seek identity and meaning over the course of a night.” Penned and directed by Luke Jaden, the 9-minute short has been shot on 35mm film.
The film takes viewers down memory lane from the perspective of a group of young people exploring themselves, analyzing where they belong, and unpacking how they relate to others and the search for belonging through the techno scene. Richie Hawtin also soundtracked the film under his Plastikman alias.
“I felt like the underground techno world is so cinematic and that it deserved to be documented in a truthful way through the stories, music and the visuals,” explains Luke Jaden, as per Resident Advisor. “We actually shot the film at an techno party in Detroit and the goal was to make this film feel as real and as authentic as possible to an actual techno party experience.”
‘Kids Like Us’ is inspired by the Spastik party at Packard Plant hosted by British-Canadian Richie Hawtin. He debuted his legendary Plastikman alias there in the 1990s and served as a cornerstone in shaping the Detroit techno scene and rave culture.
“Take a trip through the pulsating energy and community of early ‘90s techno culture in Detroit inspired by Richie Hawtin’s Packard Plant event. 30 years since the birth of Hawtin’s Plastikman persona, writer-director Luke Jaden magnifies the community built through the city’s underground techno culture for 35mm short film ‘Kids Like Us,’” Nowness announced on Instagram.
Watch ‘Kids Like Us’ via NOWNESS
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