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Future By Design. USA 2006. Directed by William Gazecki.

Jacque Fresco is the name that may - or should - rise in the awareness of human kind, in the future. "A modern-day Da Vinci" as he is called, may give an impression of a new-age wacko but as the director William Gazecki goes further and gives the man his time to talk, it all makes sense. I think.

In my opinion, William Gazecki is one of the most important documentary filmmakers right now, as his Academy Award -nominated Waco: Rules of Engagement (1997) and Crop Circles: Quest of Truth (2002) were the films that totally changed my views towards the incident at Waco compound of David Koresh and paranormal crop circles. No other films have had the effect they did to my beliefs.

With Future by Design, there is no big secret to reveal. In it's simplicity, Gazecki gives Fresco his time to tell about his philosophy, his methods and his thoughts. There are some narrated introductions (by director himself) to the history and the work of Jacque Fresco, but otherwise your brain relaxes and starts to work when listening to futuristic innovations and proposals to better life of human kind. Yes, I know it sounds like a hippie revival, but can you blame a 90-year old man planning something better for our children and their children? No you can't, period.

Jacque Fresco's architecture seems like a part of the sci-fi story, and in some way it is. His visions about constructing, cities, transportation and energy are so much ahead of their time, that maybe we do not witness them. The round-shaped buildings are not in his drawings because they look good - they belong there because they have a purpose. And no, I don't believe that everyone would like to live in a dome, but stranger things are happening right now.

William Gazecki has once again taken an open-minded view to a character, that can be easy to dismiss. In these times, the optimistic views of this documentary are highly refreshing. Future By Design works on many levels: on the other hand it's a portrait of an somewhat misunderstood artist, social planner and engineer - but it works also as a perfect showcase for Fresco's lifetime work. With a combination of nice CGI scenes by Doug Drexler (Star Trek films, Dick Tracy) and uplifting music by Diane Louie (American Idol, Grammy Awards), Fresco's ideas come to life in the front of viewers eyes. And with Future by Design, his ideas will live on. Still, I would like to see Gazecki making a documentary about more controversial subject - and turning my beliefs upside down.

2-Disc Collector's Edition has the second disc with special features: photo gallery, extra scenes, interviews (Doug Drexler, Diane Louie and Larry King interviewing Fresco back in 1974). The educational materials (seven PDF-files) are nice add for everyone interested of Fresco's world.