Thursday October 6 to Sunday, October 9 in LantarenVenster,Rotterdam
Fresh movies, cult hits, documentaries, animations and art-house gems: the AFFRscreens about 100 very different films and with interviews, bike tours anddebates it is by far the most ambitious program ever. The films have one thingin common. Architecture is always the protagonist. For its sixth edition, theAFFR has therefore opted for the most spectacular part of Rotterdam: the newLantarenVenster of architect Álvaro Siza at the Wilhelminapier.
The horror film Wolfen (Michael Wadleigh, 1981) and the horror comedyHomebodies (Larry Yust, 1974) are examples of cult classics that are notinitially at home at an architecture film festival. But these films uncover thepowers within the city and the battle between megalomaniac plans versusindividuals within a setting of blight and demolition in the seventies andeighties. What else can you expect? The slogan this year is ‘Think Big, ActSmall’ because grass-root initiatives in the city offer new perspectives for aglobal society. This main program screens documentaries about do-it-yourselfurban development, sustainable living and heroic actions for culturalstatements or against monstrous plans. There are also the latest films, such asnew biographies of famous architects (including Norman Foster and LouisSullivan) and several festive premieres. The film program takes the viewer fromoil platforms in the Caspian Sea via adolescents in a ’50s suburb to enchantingplaces at the seaside.
The AFFR announces a few recommendations
Wolfen (Michael Wadleigh, 1981) – a horror film from the80s, with a brilliant set of the now demolished South Bronx in New York
Homebodies (Larry Yust, 1974) – horror comedy with a groupof elderly people who live in a flat in Cincinnati. They resist its demolitionwith the slogan ‘A murder a day keeps the landlord away’.
My Playground (Kaspar Astrup Schröder, 2009)- documentaryabout free runners and skaters in Copenhagen and their relationship witharchitect Bjarke Ingels
The Man Next Door (Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, 2009) – atouching film about a neighbor dispute in the only existing Le Corbusier Villain South America.
Slapstick Program – Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd andBuster Keaton prove that architecture and architects can be funny.
Medianeras (Gustavo Tarrento, 2011) – this light comic essayabout life in the modern city Buenos Aires has its Dutch avant premiere at theAFFR.
Lost Town (Jörg Adolph, 2009) – two young German architectswin a design contest at the English coast. Now what?
Utopia London (Tom Cordell, 2010) – a virtuosic film aboutthe ambitious and idealistic housing programs in London 1939-1970.
In Comparison (Harun Farocki, 2009) – the basics of building:a poetic film about both the traditional and innovative uses of bricks.
Antwerp Central (Peter Krüger, 2011) – breath-taking imagesof the most beautiful station in Europe, as part of a themed program onstations in the Dutch DeltaMetropolis Association.
Location
The surrounding highrise of the Rotterdam LantarenVenster, designed by renownedarchitects is the perfect location for the AFFR. Álvaro Siza, Renzo Piano,Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas and many others will prominently be present infilm or debate.
Practical information
Movie tickets cost € 8.50 (regular) / € 7.50 (on presentation of student card,CJP or 65 + pass holders). Day tickets € 25. The presale starts on September26. Tickets are available at the box office of LantarenVenster (010-2772277).
The AFFR was made possible by the municipality of Rotterdam, the NetherlandsArchitecture Foundation, Stichting Volkskracht, the Dutch Film Fund, the VSBFund, the Job Dura Fund and the Flemish-Dutch Huis de Buren.