Future Shock 52 years old

“Our modern technology has achieved a degree of sophistication beyond our wildest dreams. But this technology has exacted a pretty heavy price. We live in an age of anxiety, a time of stress. And with all our sophistication we are in fact, the victims of our own technological strength. We are the victims of shock … of future shock.” No, this isn’t a quote from a Huffington Post column on the Facebookization of modern communication. Nor is it pulled from an academic treatise on the phenomenologies of post-industrial existence. This statement was made by Orson Welles in the 1972 futurist documentary Future Shock, and, unlike some of the more dated elements of 1970s educational films, Future Shock remains shockingly current in verbalizing the concerns and anxieties that come along with rapid societal and technological change. (Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive)

Credits

Future Shock Cast

Name Character
Orson Welles He was 56, 70 years old when he died as Narrator

Future Shock Crew

Name Department
Vilis Lapenieks as Director of Photography. He was 40 (55) years old when He died Camera
Gil Mellé as Original Music Composer. He was 40 (72) years old when He died Sound
Alexander Grasshoff as Director. He was 43 (79) years old when He died Directing
David Newhouse as Editor. Editing
Future Shock (52 years)

  • Release day: Tuesday, February 22, 1972
  • Runtime: 43 minutes