Metropolis

Metropolis is considered one of the greatest classics in film history. The film is set in a futuristic city where society is divided into two worlds. Above ground, the wealthy upper class lives in luxury, while workers live deep beneath the city, keeping the machines running day and night. Freder, the son of city leader Johann Fredersen, grows up in the world of the wealthy. When he meets Maria, a worker’s daughter who is devoted to her community, he discovers how harsh life beneath the city really is. He begins to oppose the vast inequality and tries to make his father understand what is happening.

In 2027, Fritz Lang’s futuristic masterpiece Metropolis will be exactly 100 years old. To mark this anniversary, film journalist and composer Kevin Toma has written a brand-new live soundtrack for the film, which he will perform himself at Cinecitta. Toma is best known as a film journalist for de Volkskrant, but has also been composing contemporary music for silent films for many years, performing his scores live in cinemas across the Netherlands. He has composed soundtracks commissioned by, among others, IFFR, IDFA, Film Fest Gent and Lowlands. In 2025, he toured the Netherlands with his score for F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922).

Describing his musical approach, Toma says: “Expect a hypnotic and immersive fusion of piano, synths, beats, samples and soundscapes that will not only create a bridge between the mechanical and the human, but also between this century-old film and today’s cinema audience.”