Five days, twenty international and Czech films, discussions with directors and experts and dance performances. From September 30 to October 4, the festival Film and Architecture will come to a total of seventeen towns. The program of the tenth year entirely fulfills its theme “Connection” (Spojení), which refers to the irreplaceable role of architecture as it not only connects people, places and cultures, but also builds connections between art and social disciplines.
Both feature and short films will be shown.
“No fewer than sixteen films will be introduced for the first time and probably also for the last time in the Czech Republic. It is a unique opportunity to enjoy shots of architecture on a big screen. The individual screenings will be accompanied by shorter film works. It is their presentation that gives us the opportunity to support young and emerging filmmakers. This year, we’ve chosen three films in an open call: Over the Walls, Three Patios for the Sun and an architectural road trip ‘Trasa po unikátních nádražních halách’ (Route) by architect Josef Danda,” the program curator Karolína Vacková says.
On the occasion of the 150thbirth anniversary of Jan Kotěra, founder of modern Czech architecture, a series of short films about Kotěra’s buildings from the workshop of Tomáš Luňák, Kateřina Fojtíková and Greta Stocklassawas produced directly for the festivals Film and Architecture and Day of Architecture.
A similar situation to the one which occurred in the town of Most when a part of the town was relocated due to mining is taking place in the Swedish town of Kiruna. The picture Kiruna – A Brand New World will be personally presented by the Czech-Swedish director Greta Stocklassa. Unusual views from the roofs of Cuban houses revealing the faiths of the people living in a dilapidated town will be shown in Havana, from on High. A Machine to Live In will show negative sides of Brasília, a project by Oscar Niemeyer and urbanist Lucia Costa. The beauty of Brasília is put into context of architecture of cults and utopic cities in the remote Brazilian inland.
L’Esprit Le Corbusier brings a fascinating story about adolescence in the so-called Unité d’Habitation in Firminy, exceptional paintings by Cité Radieuse in Marseille and the summer house Cabanon de Roquebrune or unpublished archive shots of everyday life in the 70’s.
The screening of the visually captivating film Body-Buildings which connects dance with unique architecture locations of world-renowned architects from Portugalsuch as João Luís Carrilho da Graça, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Eduardo Souto de Moura, João Mendes Ribeiro or Paulo David,will be preceded by a dance performance of the 420PEOPLEensemble called Through Glass. A discussion with the film’s director Henrique Pina will also take place in the Prague’s CAMP.
The origin of an American offshoot of the Bauhaus art school under the leadership of Lászlo Moholy-Nagy will be described closer in the documentary The New Bauhaus. The unique connection of architecture, art and design comes to the surface from archive materials and interviews with personalities from the artist’s family or with his present-day admirers. The ideas of Bauhaus will be reflected in the film Unexpected Modernism: The Architecture of the Wiener Brothers. After their visit to Bauhaus, the most prestigious European school of design, the Wiener Brothers became the most innovative and most frugal architects of the 30’s in the Southern US.
The two films Inside Prora and Where to with History? point to an uneasy coming to terms with the past. Prora, the so-called Monster by the sea, is considered to be the longest building in the world. The originally planned seaside resort of the Third Reich was converted to GDR barracks after the Second World War. Today, hotels are opening and tourism is flourishing in this long-deserted building. Festival visitors will be able to join a discussion with the director Nico Weber.
The story of Dresden Where to with History? is essential to the understanding of the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and it is a proof that politics and architecture are inseparably interconnected. The document shows the large-scale destruction of the center of Dresden and its subsequent modernist revitalization, offering many forms and interpretations of the town’s history. The screening in Prague’s CAMP will be followed by a panel discussion of journalist Karolína Vránková with architect and architecture historian Petr Vorlík, preservationist Hana Řepková and architect Ondřej Tuček on the topic of Czech Architecture and the Relics of Political Regimes.
“We will open the festival with the documentary Spaceship Earth about the American experiment from the 90’s when a group of scientists had closed themselves in a cosmic colony simulator for 2 years. The futuristic story has many twists and turns which make the spectators think not only about their possible way of life on other planets, but mainly about the life on Earth. We will close the Prague screenings with a film about a Swiss architect Mario Botta who specializes in sacral buildings – from a church and a synagogue all the way to a mosque. Even though the topics of these films may seem to differ from one another at first glance, they both deal with the so-called space above us: whether it is from a purely scientific or, on the contrary, a spiritual point of view. We are dealing with this thematic connection in the ‘Nadprostor’ (Space Beyond) section,”Vacková adds.
The festival Film and Architecture takes place in Brno, Břeclav, Hodonín, Jeseník, Karlovy Vary, Liberec, Mikulov, Nymburk, Olomouc, Ostrava, Plzeň, Prague, Řevnice, Vratislavice nad Nisou, Vsetín, Zlín and Slovakian Piešťany in parallel with Day of Architecture. From October 1 to October 7, you are invited to 300 events in eight dozen towns and villages across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The rich and free program offers a selection of excursions to buildings which are commonly out of bounds and takes you on walks, bike rides, trips by train or boat with professional guides. In addition, there will also be lectures, film screenings, exhibitions and workshops. At the beginning of October, under the motto “Hurá dovnitř!” (Let’s go inside!), buildings that are commonly inaccessible to the public will open to everyone.
Spolek Kruh, founder of the festivals Day of Architecture and Film and Architecture draws from two decades of experience in the field and from long-term collaboration with architects, associations and institutions in all regions. This way, a network has been established and more than 180 towns in the Czech Republic and Slovakia have joined. In spite of the pandemic, almost 400 events across the whole of the Czech Republic and Slovakia took place in the last year and they were visited by 23,000 visitors.
Photo download: https://bit.ly/Film_a_architektura_2021
YouTube:
Spaceship Earth youtu.be/5JOwk2iD80M
Mario Botta: The Space Beyond youtu.be/vmi6PwnFS3g
Inside Prora youtu.be/G1jBuzdLAUs
Kiruna – A Brand New World https://youtu.be/92ZghkxQvsw
Havana, from on High https://youtu.be/Ickx6bcYxRM
A Machine to Live In https://youtu.be/Jdmsq2x7Nao
L’Esprit Le Corbusier https://youtu.be/H-Mc5ch1mtw
Body-Buildings https://youtu.be/yN7VFhT60qA
The New Bauhaus https://youtu.be/Efz67zwDU6k
Links:
Organized by (FA): Kruh
Under the auspices of (FA): Czech Chamber of Architects
Principal partner (FA): mmcité a.s.
Financially supported by (FA): Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, The project is organized with the financial support from the city of Prague, The Czech Architecture Foundation, Municipal District Prague 1, SOMFY spol. s r.o, SIPRAL a. s., The French Institute in Prague
Principal media partner (FA): Dolce Vita
Media partners (FA): Architect+, ArtMap, CZECHDESIGN, CINEPUR, CZECHMAG, EARCH, ELLE Decoration, Full Moon Magazine, iUmeni.cz, Kinobox.cz, Noviny & Novinky, Radio 1, Radio Wave, 25fps
