The Real Thing

Genie Français – Les Fortresses de Vauban

February 2020 •German

Chambord: The Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery

November 2018 •French

A building lost in the midst of a 5 000 hectare park, that's the equivalent of the surface of Paris, Chambord is the castle of all superlatives. Having required nearly 220,000 tonnes of stone to build, the Chateau de Chambord, in the Loir-et-Cher department, is an architectural gem. 156 metres of facade, it has more than 70 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms. The castle commissioned by Francis 1st in the 16th century is also the most mysterious. The majestic monument has its share of mysteries: identity of its architect, influence of the Florentine painter Leonardo da Vinci in its design, location in the middle of marshes in the heart of the forest and even longevity because it has survived through time without being damaged since the beginning of its construction in September 1519.

Tokyo Ride

September 2020 •English

Revisiting the genre of the road movie in a very diaristic and personal way, the film takes us on board architect Ryue Nishizawa’s vintage Alfa Romeo (Giulia) for a day long wandering in the streets of Tokyo.

REM

September 2016 •English

Architecture is often seen from the outside, as an inanimate object represented in still imagery. ‘REM’ exposes the human experience of architecture through dynamic film.

Building the Eiffel Tower

February 2024 •English

Explore the revolutionary engineering behind Paris’s iconic landmark. Completed in just over two years for the 1889 World’s Fair, the iron tower smashed the record for the tallest structure on Earth, ushering in a new age of global construction that reached for the skies. How did the engineers do it? Follow the innovations, successes, and failures that made one of the most famous buildings on the planet possible.

Berlin Babylon

September 2001 •German

A documentary focusing on the rebuilding projects in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Jean Nouvel: Guthrie Theater

September 2008 •English

French architect Jean Nouvel has long been known in Europe for his bold, shimmering glass museums, concert halls, and high-rise towers. Now the much-acclaimed new Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which opened in 2006, is displaying Nouvel's remarkable talents to an American public. With a cantilevered lobby that extends 175 feet over the Mississippi River, the dark midnight-blue, aluminum-paneled structure has captivated the culturally conscious city and helped spur the rejuvenation of a once-industrial waterfront. In the tour, Nouvel takes us through three distinctive theaters he designed for the Guthrie, and out onto the cantilevered deck to view the legendary river that inspired the boldly elevated design.

Years of Construction

February 2019 •German

Demolition of the old and building of the new Kunsthalle in Mannheim in the years 2013 to 2018.

If You Build It

April 2013 •English

A year in the life of one of America's most innovative classrooms where students design & build to transform their hometown community. The film follows Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller as they teach the fundamentals of design, architecture and construction to a class of high school juniors in rural North Carolina.

Trip to Asia: The Quest for Harmony

February 2008 •German

Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across Asia: Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. Their artistic triumph onstage belies a dynamic and dramatic life backstage. The orchestra is a closed society that observes its own laws and traditions, and in the words of one of its musicians is, “an island, a democratic microcosm – almost without precedent in the music world - whose social structure and cohesion is not only founded on a common love for music but also informed by competition, compulsion and the pressure to perform to a high pitch of excellence... .” Never before has the Berlin Philharmonic allowed such intimate and exclusive access into its private world.

Meet Me in Paris

February 2023 •English

Three single friends travel to Paris for ten days for the journey of a lifetime and in search of true love. From 'meet cutes' at the Luxembourg Gardens, to strolls down the tree-lined Champs-Élysées, will first dates lead to happily ever after or heartbreak?

The Amateur

August 2016 •Italian

The memory of Piero Portaluppi, a Milanese architect who reached the peak of his fame during the 20 years of the Fascist regime, comes back to life, both through the rediscovery of his work today and in a previously unpublished film diary in 16 mm, shot and edited throughout his lifetime. A man of great charm and power, Portaluppi lived through a grandiose but tragic era with ironic detachment, as if dancing across things as he created beauty. History marches on implacably, radically transforming the arena in which the eclectic artist and his large family lived and worked.

Skyscraper

November 1959 •English

Nominated for an Academy Award, this live-action short film playfully chronicles the construction of the Tishman Building at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Bauta

September 2018 •Norwegian

Bauta is a short documentary that explores public, monumental buildings in Norway - stone and concrete buildings. By the public they have the desire to be torn down, or are not given particular aesthetic value. But what about when people are out of the buildings and they get to stand for themselves? Bauta provides a new experience of space and architecture.

Ad Astra

June 2015 •Norwegian

A visual journey through Norwegian modernist church architecture. A short documentary film that pays tribute to the Norwegian church and post-war postmodernist architects for its daring reform of the 50-70's innovative church building. Raw concrete and cold clean lines in a functionalist style were in line with society's development, but in stark contrast to what the church had previously represented. The film portrays 25 of these churches from all over the country

Paris Train Stations: Shaping the City

October 2020 •French

Every day, Paris’ six railway stations welcome over 3,000 trains and more than a million travelers coming from France and all over Europe. The stations’ sizes are impressive: Gare du Nord is bigger than the Louvre or Notre-Dame de Paris. These railway stations are architectural landmarks and a model of urban planning despite the radical changes they’ve undergone since their construction in the middle of the 19th century. How did the railway stations manage to absorb the boom of travelers in just a few decades? What colossal works were necessary to erect and then modify these now essential buildings? From the monumental glass walls of Gare du Nord to the iconic tower of Gare de Lyon, to the first-ever all-electric train station, each has its own story, technical characteristics, and well-defined urban image.

Restoring a Masterpiece: The Renovation of Eastman Theatre

April 2010 •English

Take a look behind the curtain to see the vast history and recent renovation of one of Rochester, New York's most famous landmarks. Architects, theater personnel, historians, community leaders, and citizens provide in depth insight from start to finish in one of the most extensive renovations the city has ever seen.

High Rise and Fall

January 1993 •English

Documentary about Queen Elizabeth Square, Sir Basil Spence's block of Brutalist style flats built to replace the Gorbal's tenements in Glasgow during the 1960s. His vision was based on architect Le Corbusier's ideas and inspired him to transform the Gorbals into a Modernist Utopia. The film is about the life and times of one building told by some of the people involved in its history. The block was dynamited in 1993 amidst controversy and the death of a spectator. It is mentioned in Pevsner's Notable Buildings of Britain. This film was shown on BBC Scotland's Ex-S strand in 1993. Produced by May Miller and directed by Conrad Blakemore. This film is posted for educational and research purposes only and is copyright of BBC Scotland. Archive material courtesy of the Scottish Film Archive and the film's contributors.

Stuttgart Shanghai

March 2007 •English

A young pair from Stuttgart fly to Shanghai to hop aboard the textile business of his father while she prepares for the birth of their son. A story about the ever more common movement of Germans into the East for professional gain.

Les Invalides: La construction d'un symbole

September 2019 •French