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AFFR initiates first architecture film festival in China
United Kingdom Architecture News - Sep 10, 2014 - 12:55 3210 views
The Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (AFFR) is presenting, in collaboration with Beijing Design Week (BJDW), the first film festival devoted to architecture and city development in China. Entitled ‘We are the city’, the architecture film festival takes place in the period September 25-28 at a prominent venue in the heart of Beijing. BJDW and AFFR aim to forge a lasting collaborative relationship, with an annual film festival in China to promote contact between Chinese and Dutch architects, designers and filmmakers.
BJDW takes place this year from September 25 to 28. Attracting over five million visitors, the event has grown over the past five years to become one of the biggest international gatherings of designers, architects and urbanists. AFFR, which organises the world’s biggest architecture film festival in Rotterdam every two years, is delighted with this new collaborative venture in China.
Under the heading We are the city, curator Jord den Hollander has compiled a programme that spotlights the biggest challenge facing China in the 21st century: how to manage the rapid growth of the country’s megacities. Besides Dutch and Chinese films, the event includes screenings that examine urban developments all over the world. In addition, a film about the parallels between the two bike-friendly cities of Amsterdam and Beijing is being produced specially for the festival and will be screened daily on one of the biggest projection screens in the city.
Debates and workshop
During the BJDW event, AFFR will work closely with Tsinghua University to host debates, centred on the festival theme, between Chinese and Dutch designers, urban designers and city planners in close cooperation. Young professionals and students at the architecture faculty at Tsinghua University can also take part in a three-day workshop on film and architecture.
Next AFFR in Rotterdam
The next AFFR takes place in October 2015 and will feature over 100 films in which architectuur and the city play key roles. The festival programme also includes debates, talk shows, tours and film screenings at spectacular locations in Rotterdam.
For background information and full programme:
