Maillart's Bridges(2001)

Bickels [Socialism](en)

The ‘Casa do Povo’ cultural centre in São Paulo, an icon of the secular Jewish workers’ movement: a crumbling theatre flanked by staircases, entryways and corridors. Construction noise drones away in the background, clinking crockery, a broom sweeping over tiled floors, an expressive façade of countless adjustable panes of glass covered by a patina. It’s October 2016 and a group of young people are preparing a preview of Bickels [Socialism]. The venue is to form a prologue to the completed film, which tours 22 buildings in Israel designed by Samuel Bickels, most of which for kibbutzim. Dining halls, children’s houses, agricultural buildings, bright structures inserted into the Mediterranean landscape with great ingenuity. An architecture with a sell-by date: That many are now empty or have been repurposed at best is linked to the decline of the socialist ideals they embody.

The Darkness of Day(en)

The Darkness of Day is a haunting meditation on suicide. It is comprised entirely of found 16mm footage that had been discarded. The sadness, the isolation, and the desire to escape are recorded on film in various contexts. Voice-over readings from the journal kept by a brother of the filmmaker’s friend who committed suicide in 1990 intermix with a range of compelling stories, from the poignant double suicide of an elderly American couple to a Japanese teenager who jumped into a volcano, spawning over a thousand imitations. While this is a serious exploration of a cultural taboo, its lyrical qualities invite the viewer to approach the subject with understanding and compassion.

Forest(en)

Short film built from photographs, sped up like a traditional stop motion and is meant to be an evocation of the English Eerie and Folk Horror.

Aux bains de la reine(pt)

Elsa returns to her homeland, Caldas da Rainha, in Portugal to meet her mother. Through this little adventure, we discover the city and the mysterious activities of its inhabitants, as well as elements of Elsa's family history. A crossed impressionist portrait is woven, temporalities become confused, and dreams mingle with reality.

Love and Cocoa(hi)

It's the story of a beautiful silence of love, an unwelcome awkwardness, and two sweethearts, 'Ved' and 'Priya meeting after 4 long years. The film depicts the meaning, significance, and the value of time, with the revelation that you can never unlove someone; all you have to do is believe and speak your heart out.

А почему так?(ru)

Six Reasons Why(en)

In a desolate place called the Badlands, four men stand off with guns drawn, their fingers ready at the trigger. Among them are a fugitive seeking redemption, a son out to avenge his father's murder, a loyal servant with a secret and a murderous criminal hired to kill with a vengeance. This is their story...in a place where revenge, deception and cruelty are a way of life.

Shadow of the Steeple(en)

Shadow of the steeple follows the adventures of Laura, Lucy and their local Vicar as they stumble upon an unsolved crime of the past... uncovered by Laura's newly found ability to speak with the afterlife! The three team, up to try and discover who really murdered Christina after finding out her fiance was wrongfully convicted of the crime.

Forgotten Roads(es)

Claudina is a repressed woman from the countryside. After her husband passes away, she meets Elsa, a married woman with whom she discovers real love. In a little conservatory town in the south of Chile, obsessed with UFO sighting, she starts a new journey.

Voodont(en)

A voodoo doll comes to life.

V-Day: Volcanic Planet(en)

Earth is a volcanic planet, with over 1,400 active giants spread across the globe. But what would happen if all of them were to erupt at once? From rivers of lava, towering ash clouds, and pyroclastic flows to tsunamis and super-sized climate change, we explore the powerful volcanic forces that fascinate today's scientists. Join us as we conduct a thrilling thought experiment with leading volcanologists that reveals the inner workings of some of the world's most magnificent volcanoes.

The Lovers(ru)

A subtle lyrical story about youth, the search for truth, the first painful experiences of love. The film features three heroes who live in Tashkent. Rodin — a kind and whole man — finds it difficult to live with a girl who doesn't love him, and he himself saves her from the need to lie and suffer... Rustam's life is different. He is loving, talented... The third hero Thassos — a Greek by birth — returns to his homeland, where his mother and sister were found, but there flashed a junta of "grey colonels"...

Das Grundgesetz der Tiere(de)

Hellhounds(en)

A first person account of Ross Graves, an alcoholic drifter who is constantly hunted by demonic bounty hunters and a spiritual being to whom he sold his soul.

Trombón(es)

Trombone is not a classic documentary, in the same way that Trombonanza is not a classic experience in the world of trombone. It is full of moving stories, secret tributes, huge celebrations and above all music.

Captive(en)

The daughter of an international tycoon is kidnapped by a trio of abductors who seek to mold her to their lifestyle.

Scrotal Vengeance(en)

Juvenile micro budget horror-comedy about two vampires fighting over the same girl.

Notre-Dame de la Garde: Basilique hors norme(fr)

Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line(en)

Diller Scofidio + Renfro has long been at the forefront of design with provocative exhibitions that blurred the boundaries between art and architecture. This film captures their extraordinary evolution and unique process in reimagining the public identities of Lincoln Center and the once derelict High Line railroad tracks.

Twilight City(en)

A fictional letter from a daughter, Olivia, to her mother in Dominica is the narrative thread connecting interviews from (predominantly) black and Asian cultural critics, historians and journalists. The choice of occupation for the daughter, a researcher, perhaps strains the narrative conceit too far. Nevertheless, for an avowedly political documentary the result is absorbing.

Palace for the People(bg)

The life and death of socialist architectural monsters. An epic fairy-tale in five chapters.

David Macaulay: Pyramid(en)

How did ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid at Giza, joining two million blocks of heavy stone with amazing precision? Who were the leaders who built these enormous structures, and what did these tombs signify? Host David Macaulay explores the history, mythology, and religions of Egypt's people, combining live footage and animation. Take a rare look at the mummy of Ramses II and buried treasure in the sacred Valley of the Kings.

The New Apartment(de)

A commissioned film for Schweizerischer Werkbund (SWB), Die neue Wohnung was produced for the Basel architectural and interior design exhibition, WOBA, to demonstrate innovative aspects of modern architecture and highlight their differences from the event’s highly conservative approach. Despite its ad campaign roots, Richter's touch is not absent; The surviving version, aimed at a "bourgeois" Swiss public, presents decluttered, functional architecture and decor as superior to the traditional and luxurious "ancient" ways of living.

Bowlingtreff(de)

The “Bowlingtreff” is a bowling alley situated right in the centre of Leipzig opened in July 1987. At that time the quality of life in Leipzig and the whole GDR got worse. Houses collapsed because of poor conditions, public life and amusement was on a very low level. The “Bowlingtreff” was not merely an urban entertainment centre but a revolution in those days. Built with the help of hundreds of volunteers without permission of the state authorities in Berlin the building expresses a free and international architecture known as postmodernism. It is an architecture that was never seen before in Leipzig. Marble and parquet on the floor, a glass roof and beautiful pink pillars. The atmosphere was western as time witnesses remember it.

Der Stoff, aus dem Träume sind(de)

The Untold Story of the Vatican(fr)

What started as a simple tomb became over a 2,000 years history the universal seat of Christendom and is today one of the most visited museum in the world with invaluable collections of Arts, Manuscripts, Maps. Using spectacular 3D modelisation and CGI to give viewers as never before a true understanding of the history of this architectural masterpiece and its extensions, the film will also use animation to tell relevant historical events. This heritage site reveals new untold secrets with the help of historians deciphering the Vatican’s rich archives and manuscripts collection and following the restorations at work (newly discovered frescoes by Raphael) and recent excavations. A story where Religion, Politics, Arts and Science meet to assert religious authority and serve as a spiritual benchmark.

Mid-Century Moderns: The Homes That Define Palm Springs(en)

This documentary film goes beyond the walls and hedges of Mid-Century homes that were built in neighborhoods like Twin Palms, Vista Las Palmas and Racquet Club Estates. The film features interviews with noted architects James Harlan, author of The Alexanders. Watch as home owners in various Palm Springs neighborhoods speak directly to the pride that goes beyond home ownership as they tour us through their homes. They gladly accept that they are the stewards of these mid-Century monuments that they live with everyday.

Berlin Babylon(de)

A documentary focusing on the rebuilding projects in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Paris Train Stations: Shaping the City(fr)

Every day, Paris’ six railway stations welcome over 3,000 trains and more than a million travelers coming from France and all over Europe. The stations’ sizes are impressive: Gare du Nord is bigger than the Louvre or Notre-Dame de Paris. These railway stations are architectural landmarks and a model of urban planning despite the radical changes they’ve undergone since their construction in the middle of the 19th century. How did the railway stations manage to absorb the boom of travelers in just a few decades? What colossal works were necessary to erect and then modify these now essential buildings? From the monumental glass walls of Gare du Nord to the iconic tower of Gare de Lyon, to the first-ever all-electric train station, each has its own story, technical characteristics, and well-defined urban image.

Bauta(no)

Bauta is a short documentary that explores public, monumental buildings in Norway - stone and concrete buildings. By the public they have the desire to be torn down, or are not given particular aesthetic value. But what about when people are out of the buildings and they get to stand for themselves? Bauta provides a new experience of space and architecture.

Ad Astra(no)

A visual journey through Norwegian modernist church architecture. A short documentary film that pays tribute to the Norwegian church and post-war postmodernist architects for its daring reform of the 50-70's innovative church building. Raw concrete and cold clean lines in a functionalist style were in line with society's development, but in stark contrast to what the church had previously represented. The film portrays 25 of these churches from all over the country

Skyscraper(en)

Nominated for an Academy Award, this live-action short film playfully chronicles the construction of the Tishman Building at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The Amateur(it)

The memory of Piero Portaluppi, a Milanese architect who reached the peak of his fame during the 20 years of the Fascist regime, comes back to life, both through the rediscovery of his work today and in a previously unpublished film diary in 16 mm, shot and edited throughout his lifetime. A man of great charm and power, Portaluppi lived through a grandiose but tragic era with ironic detachment, as if dancing across things as he created beauty. History marches on implacably, radically transforming the arena in which the eclectic artist and his large family lived and worked.

Years of Construction(de)

Demolition of the old and building of the new Kunsthalle in Mannheim in the years 2013 to 2018.

Tokyo Ride(en)

Revisiting the genre of the road movie in a very diaristic and personal way, the film takes us on board architect Ryue Nishizawa’s vintage Alfa Romeo (Giulia) for a day long wandering in the streets of Tokyo.

Architecture And Power(en)

A history of Bucharest, as seen in the light of the totalitarian architecture, having as leading idea the reality that the Power always exposes its purposes through architecture. After five decades of communism, the reality on thee Dark Ages is still waiting to be revealed, and architecture is one of the most obvious embodiments of the ideology to whom it was builtÉ It is not a movie about faults or about guilty peoples, but about official edifices of thee communist Romania and their story.

Chambord: The Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery(fr)

A building lost in the midst of a 5 000 hectare park, that's the equivalent of the surface of Paris, Chambord is the castle of all superlatives. Having required nearly 220,000 tonnes of stone to build, the Chateau de Chambord, in the Loir-et-Cher department, is an architectural gem. 156 metres of facade, it has more than 70 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms. The castle commissioned by Francis 1st in the 16th century is also the most mysterious. The majestic monument has its share of mysteries: identity of its architect, influence of the Florentine painter Leonardo da Vinci in its design, location in the middle of marshes in the heart of the forest and even longevity because it has survived through time without being damaged since the beginning of its construction in September 1519.