The Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam takes place at LantarenVenster film theatre from 7 to 11 October 2020.The AFFR editors – under the curatorship of Jord den Hollander – are selecting 75 sensational international films about recent developments in architecture and the city. Besides screenings of feature films and documentaries, the festival includes talk shows, debates, lectures and masterclasses devoted to particular themes.
The theme of AFFR 2020 is Guilty Architecture: the festival turns its attention to the changing role of architecture and urbanism in a rapidly polarizing world. Due to the worldwide Covid-crisis, this question is more urgent than before. Historical continuity (or the perception of it) in the built environment is increasingly embraced in the debate around authenticity and identity. The devastating ecological consequences of global urbanization call on the moral understanding of developers and architects. With a spectacular selection of films and documentaries about the city and architecture, the twelfth edition of AFFR goes in search of the moral dilemmas of our time. In a series of introductions by experts, conversations with filmmakers, and debates with people involved, AFFR asks ‘how innocent is architecture really?’
The Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam wants to provoke a different view on city developments by screening a varied film programme for a wide audience. Film is after all one of the most accessible media and it can help to understand and criticize the complexity of architecture and urban planning. Films can vary from documentaries about a specific urban project to a biography of an architect, from a fly on the wall report about a planning process gone wrong to science fiction films about future cities, from historical films about regeneration projects to animations about imaginary cities.
The AFFR achieves to surprise and provoke the audience by programming films in a specific context and connect them to a debate about urban transformations. The festival is visited by over 5.000 enthusiastic and international visitors, 100 special guests, both filmmakers and architects.
We take pride in our balanced but challenging film selection, we are a one of a kind film festival. The festival is a party and a conference at the same time, with a lively atmosphere.
All filmmakers of the selected films are rewarded with our hospitality and respect. We don't believe in shiny prizes, since we believe in the best match between films, filmmakers and the audience. We promote all films and especially the top 10 films that are appreciated best by our audience. Furthermore, when selected, we can offer several services for filmmakers to help the film get distributed or publicized.