16.08.2010
Piano + Metropolis
This thursday night at the Rotterdamse Open Air Cinema: the screening of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with live music
18.06.2010
Cinematic Rotterdam
Floris Paalman, programmeur van de Rotterdam Classics, promoveert dinsdag 22 juni op ‘Cinematic Rotterdam, the times and tides of a modern city’. Read more »
16.05.2010
Film + architectuur in Den Bosch
On May 17 onward there will be several interesting screenings in the Verkadefabriek in Den Bosch concerning architecture. This monday it’s Many words for modern of Jord den Hollander, a film screened at the 2007 edition of our AFFR festival.
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09.05.2010
Shopping malls on film
The Barbican in London organises screenings of architecture films on a regular basis. Read more »
28.04.2010
Rotterdam premiere
Living Architectures of Beka & Lemoine has its Dutch premiere on Thursday April 29, the filmmakers will be present at the screening. Make your reservation now at the NAi.
08.03.2010
The opportunity to build
Screening of ‘an opportunity to build’ (1985) by Rob Klaasman and Maarten Kloos.
06.02.2010
The Complete Metropolis
Only 200 meters missing, as the newspaper announced. In 2008 the only (almost) complete reel of Fritz Langs’ Metropolis was found. Friday Febrary 12 live on Arte TV. Read more »
02.02.2010
Oscar nomination for Logorama
Yes, we recognize the beauties, because the short animation film Logorama we screened at our festival is nominated for an Academy Award! We keep our fingers crossed for the people of H5, especially Nicolas Schmerkin.
Beka & Lemoine
Living Architecture
by Sophie Roulet
The AFFR obviously cannot ignore the most notorious architecture documentary of the past year: Koolhaas Houselife. An interview with architect Louise Lemoine and director Ila Bêka (BekaFilm), the creators of the series in production “Living Architecture”.
Architect Ila Bêka (Italy) started making short films in 2001. In 2005 he made his first feature film, Quodlibet, in which he explored the relation between film and architecture. Louise Lemoine (France) graduated in film and philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris. She writes for contemporary arts institutions and foundations, art and architecture magazines and works as scriptwriter on cinematographic and documentary projects.
Koolhaas HouseLife is the first in a series of four documentaries by Bêka and Lemoine. Collectively entitled ‘Living Architecture’ (to be released as a collection next year), they offer a fresh perspective on filming architecture, and on architecture itself.
SR: How would you describe your approach in a few words?
LL: Looking at iconic buildings as a living form.
SR: What were your criteria when it came to choosing architects and locations?
LL: We chose high-profile architects, as we wanted to transform our relationship with architectural icons. In order to convey a new image of buildings that are already subject to extensive media coverage, we allow people to see them in a different light. This involves showing people the interior from a highly unusual angle, which they would not see even if they visited the location themselves.
SR: What do the four films have in common?
LL: Each of the four architectural films we have created and produced has a different setting. For the Jubilee Church by Richard Meier, we filmed during the Christmas period in order to get a feeling of the neighbourhood and the people living in this suburb of Rome. When it came to Koolhaas, it was the unusual scale of the house that interested us. This is why we chose emblematic buildings like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. While the Barrique cellar project by Herzog & de Meuron is on a smaller scale, it was a question of allowing viewers to share a moment in the lives of the people that work and live there. All four films are about people interacting with architecture.
SR: How do you go about your work?
LL: We act as observers without imposing a pre-conceived scenario on the building. We arrive at the location and, depending on the context and who we meet, we choose to follow certain people. This explains the perspectives adopted in each of the films. In Rome, we followed local people, while for Herzog and De Meuron it was the grape-pickers and at the Guggenheim we focused on the climbers. When it came to the Koolhaas house, we singled out Guadalupe the caretaker, who is a real character.
SR: Ila Bêka, as the director, how do you explain the architecture to someone who is unfamiliar with the project?
Ila Bêka: I don’t know if we actually make architectural films. We do not want to explain a project in an educational way. We want total freedom when we arrive at the location so that we can be inspired by the people living in the building. Of course, we think about the architecture but, above all, we film people without worrying about explaining to architects how the project works.
SR: How do you find your way around the building?
IB: The layout is not always logical and it is easy to lose your way… Our films look at living spaces because architecture is for everyone and not just architects. The first part of the book explains how Guadalupe moves around the house. You can follow her movements on plans, if you want to. The second part of the book shows the house in its entirety, as it would be presented in an architecture magazine. The film does not have to fulfil this purpose …
SR: What link does your documentary make with the actual architecture?
IB: We do not aim to explain or promote architecture in any way. We want to make the opposite of the classic architectural film, which gives you the impression that you understand everything. Even if the viewer does not understand anything from our film, at least he has seen a space. The presence of people ultimately influences how the architecture is shown. It is an experience rather than an explanation.
This interview is published in the AFFR annex in A10 European magazine in september 2009.
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19.06.2010
Newsletter
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29.10.2009
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23.10.2009
Filmposters
Check out the filmposters here and tell us which one is the best! Read more »
