Heavy Architecture

Architecture in Beirut was the second greatest victim of the civil war, with pages of ancient and modern history erased by the end of the conflict. This documentary interviews citizens calling for a reconstruction plan that would preserve Beirut’s spirit of culture and openness.

Filmed during lockdown 2020, ‘de Luz/Of Light’ explores fleeting perceptions and cyclic rituals of Portuguese coastal landscapes, specifically surrounding the Cabo Sardão Lighthouse in Beja, and constructs a complex audio-visual narrative through collaging together various natural rhythms (such as the sun and motion of the sea). This film is intended for screening with a 16:27 aspect ratio. The soundtrack was composed by sound artist Michelle Lewis-King.

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In 1967, de Andrade was invited by the Italian company Olivetti to produce a documentary on the new Brazilian capital city of Brasília. Constructed during the latter half of the 1950s and founded in 1960, the city was part of an effort to populate Brazil’s vast interior region and was to be the embodiment of democratic urban planning, free from the class divisions and inequalities that characterize so many metropolises. Unsurprisingly, Brasília, Contradições de uma Cidade Nova (Brasília, Contradictions of a New City, 1968) revealed Brasília to be utopic only for the wealthy, replicating the same social problems present in every Brazilian city. (Senses of Cinema)

A group of young architects, confined to a forest in Barcelona during the COVID crisis, explore the problems generated by the ambition of wanting to be completely self-sufficient.

In 1919 an art school opened in Germany that would change the world forever. It was called the Bauhaus. A century later, its radical thinking still shapes our lives today. Bauhaus 100 is the story of Walter Gropius, architect and founder of the Bauhaus, and the teachers and students he gathered to form this influential school. Traumatised by his experiences during the Great War, and determined that technology should never again be used for destruction, Gropius decided to reinvent the way art and design were taught. At the Bauhaus, all the disciplines would come together to create the buildings of the future, and define a new way of living in the modern world.

Rua de Santa Catarina, a street that was formerly home to dozens of local businesses and hundreds of Porto residents, now sees a crowd of tourists attracted by the cheap, disposable amenities that are popping up everywhere at once. Gentrification has decontextualized Portuguese culture, rendering the landscape uncanny. The Basin Woman, a symbol of the female workers of the historic Bolhão Market, is chased down by seagulls in the midst of this transcendent chaos.

A docu-art film about Kyiv and the contemporary problems of the capital. The film raises the issue of the dilapidated state of Kyiv's old buildings and the search for effective mechanisms to preserve the city's architectural heritage.

Housing a Dream follows Dutch visionary artist Joost Conijn as he builds his dream home—an unconventional, rotating house that turns with the help of a red bicycle mounted to its floor. By pedaling, Joost can orient the house to follow the sunlight, reflecting his work's delicate balance between function and poetry. Through his process, the film explores the philosophies shaped by a lifetime of craftsmanship, revealing how building a home can become a profound act of artistic creation.

"O Regresso" is a documentary featuring renowned Portuguese actor Ruy de Carvalho as he returns to Macau after a 10-year absence. Directed to mark the 10th anniversary of his visit, the film captures Ruy de Carvalho revisiting key locations across the city, reflecting on the cultural and social transformations that Macau underwent in the lead-up to its handover from Portuguese to Chinese administration in 1999. Blending personal memories with the evolving landscape, the documentary offers a nostalgic look at Macau's unique blend of Portuguese and Chinese heritage, seen through the eyes of one of Portugal’s most beloved actors.

The Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) is one of the great figures of modern architecture, ranked alongside Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. This film analyses Aalto’s uniquely successful resolution of the demands and possibilities created by new technology and construction materials with the need to make his buildings sympathetic both to their users and to their natural surroundings. His inventive use of timber in particular represents both a reference to the forest landscape of Finland and a building material that is ‘warm’ and extremely adaptable. Filmed in Finland, Italy, Germany and the USA, this documentary shows how the Finnish natural environment and art traditions were essential elements in Aalto’s pioneering harmonization of technology and nature.

A personal biography of the leader of the PCP (Portuguese Communist Party) seen through the eyes of those who were close to him and those who studied his trajectory and thought.

After the Carnation Revolution, Portugal became a democracy and opened itself to the world. One of its consequences was the spread of erotic and pornographic films. This documentary tells the story of how these films arrived at Theatro Gil Vicente, an emblematic cultural venue of Barcelos.

In the heart of Paris, an entire palace has disappeared. It was the very first residence of the kings of France. Long before Versailles, long before the Louvre, the Palais de la Cité stood on the most prestigious island in Paris, the historic cradle of France, facing Notre-Dame. So majestic in the Middle Ages, this palace has become a ghost of history. Over the centuries, this architectural masterpiece has almost completely disappeared. A trio of experts will resurrect it in 3D. Using science and unprecedented excavations, they will track down the pieces of the puzzle to reconstruct it at its peak in the 14th century, and bring back to life those who inhabited it. From the Romans to the Vikings, from Saint Louis to the cursed kings, all have left clues of this 'Versailles of the Middle Ages'.

In this powerful new documentary, criminologist Dr Graham Hill, a former senior Met detective who was in Portugal during the early stages of the investigation assisting local police, returns to Praia da Luz for the first time. Revisiting the scene of her disappearance, unpicking Brueckner’s criminal history in both Portugal and Germany and meeting those who knew him to build a detailed offender profile, Dr Hill examines the case against the man who remains the prime suspect- and who has consistently denied any involvement in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

No description available.