Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (AFFR) is a biannual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

screening films, shorts, animations and documentaries about

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

and city culture, for both architects and the general audience. It is the largest architectural film festival in the world. The festival takes place at different locations, with its main venue being LantarenVenster. The first edition of the festival was held in 2000, in preparation for Rotterdam to be the

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

. The festival includes recently made as well as classic feature films with outstanding set design, such as

The Fountainhead ''The Fountainhead'' is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect who battles against conventional standards and refuses to com ...

Mon Oncle ''Mon Oncle'' (; ) is a 1958 comedy film directed by Jacques Tati. The first of Tati's films to be released in colour, ''Mon Oncle'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a Special Prize at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, and th ...

Silent Running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American ecological-themed science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint. Plot In the future, all forests on Earth have b ...

and

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

, while more generally considering the way cities and other built environments are depicted in cinema. Besides fiction films, the programme includes a large number of documentaries, about well-known architects, such as

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

, next to films documenting the design and construction process of various projects. The festival also provides a stage for experimental films that approach and use space in unconventional ways. An important part of the programme is dedicated to films about the use of space, films that address contested spaces, the social position and responsibility of architecture and planning, and specific themes such as the influence of media on the city. Besides films, there are usually tours, workshops, presentations, and forum discussions with architects, critics and experts from various disciplines. Special guest in 2023 was

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of ...

References

{{Authority control Film festivals in the Netherlands Film festivals established in 2000 Culture in Rotterdam Tourist attractions in Rotterdam Architecture film festivals 2000 establishments in the Netherlands