Les Invalides: La construction d'un symbole

The Cabanon by Le Corbusier

January 2010 •English

Minimalist documentary by Rax Rinnekangas about the wooden cottage "La Cabanon" designed and built in 1952 by Swiss architect and furniture designer Le Corbusier - a refuge intended for a single person with a living space of only 3.66 x 3.66 meters. The construction followed Corbusier's maxim that architecture must adapt to the human body and not vice versa. 

Ralph Erskine

July 1986 •English

The British architect based in Stockholm looks back on major projects of a long career inspired by European Modernism combined with his personal sensitivity to nature and community. Erskine is especially valued for his vital understanding of social interaction, exemplified in commissions for universities and housing complexes built from Scandinavia to Italy. The architect takes the camera on a tour of his buildings while offering revealing comments and interpretations.

Ecco

November 1963 •English

A documentary highlighting some of the oddest, strangest and more grotesque examples of human behavior. Included are a tour of the Grand Guignol theater in Paris, a man who sticks long needles through his body, reindeer being castrated, and footage of lesbians and strippers.

Chronicle of a Summer

October 1961 •French

Paris, summer 1960. Anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist and film critic Edgar Morin wander through the crowded streets asking passersby how they cope with life's misfortunes.

Métro, une ville sur les rails

October 2015 •French

Liquid Stone: Unlocking Gaudi's Secrets

March 2009 •English

The Sagrada Familia, Antonio Gaudi's most ambitious creation, was begun in the 19th century and is still under construction today. With Gaudi's tragic death in 1926 and the destruction of original models during the Spanish Civil War, the building languished for decades.

Gaudi, Catalunya

January 1959 •Japanese

In 1959 Hiroshi Teshigahara shot the following 16 mm footage of he and his father’s first trip to Barcelona and the outlying Catalonian countryside, including a visit to the home of Salvador Dali in Port Lligat. The footage was recorded without sound.

Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story

February 2020 •English

Nicknamed “Architect to the Stars,” African American architect Paul R. Williams had an incredible life. Orphaned at the age of four, Williams grew up to build mansions for movie stars and millionaires in Southern California. From the early 1920s until his retirement 50 years later, Williams was one of the most successful architects in the country. His clients included Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. His name is associated with icons like the Beverly Hills Hotel, the original MCA Headquarters Building and LAX Airport. But at the height of his career Paul Williams wasn’t always welcome in the restaurants and hotels he designed or the neighborhoods where he built homes, because of his race. “Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story” tells the compelling, but little known story, of how he used talent and perseverance to beat the odds and create a body of work that can be found from coast to coast.

Antoni Gaudi: God's Architect

January 2003 •English

Documentary about Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi made for the BBC series "Visions of Space".

From the Atoms to the Stars

September 2017 •French

An incredible travel through space and time between the walls of the Paris Observatory, which is celebrating its 350th birthday. Place of discoveries such as speed of light or Neptune’s existence, it is still today one of the oldest operating observatories and the greatest hub in the world for astronomy and astrophysics researches, second only to Harvard.

Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave

June 1992 •English

An intimate window into one of the great movements in film history that brought about an evolution in the art of cinema. The documentary portrays the movement with insight on the lives and works of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and other principal players in the New Wave.

Lina Bo Bardi

August 1993 •Portuguese

Alvorada: Brazil's Changing Face

August 1962 •German

Documentary film about Brazil around the year 1960 and how it is shaped by industrial and social upheavals. The film portrays people and landscapes, modern cities as well as the art and culture of the fifth largest country in the world, which encompasses numerous nations and cultures. The focus is on the structural changes, particularly in the capital Brasilia, which was rebuilt and inaugurated in 1960. From the perspective of a European observer, a picture of the country gradually emerges from a wide variety of impressions.

The Hermits

May 2019 •Spanish

In the midst of the chaos of México City, a group of eight bachelor millennials who call themselves ´The Hermits´, open the doors to their tiny apartments in the historic Ermita Building, in the yet-to-be gentrified neighborhood of Tacubaya, and share their life experiences in a time when precarity changes the way in which we love, feel and relate to each other. As we explore the homes of these eight neighbors, we also witness their personalities intersect in a Whatsapp chat, a virtual space that functions as a supporting system that helps them face the adversities that living alone in this city brings.

Vies retrouvées

January 1969 •French

A young man finds in an old abandoned farmhouse in Vans in Ardèche some fifty letters and a notebook forgotten there. Back in Paris, he discovers that it is a romantic correspondence between a young peasant girl and a captain during the 14-18 war. The film recreates this love story.

Tadao Ando

January 1988 •English

Tadao Ando, a self-taught architect, proposes an international architecture that he believes can only be conceived by someone Japanese. His architecture mixes Piranesian drama with contemplative spaces in urban complexes, residences and chapels. This film presents the formative years of his impressive career before he embarked on projects in Europe and the United States.

London

June 1994 •English

A psycho-geographic journey through London and its history, as undertaken by an unseen narrator and his companion, Robinson, at the time of the 1992 general election.

Echoes from a Sombre Empire

November 1990 •German

Documentary examining Bokassa's rule in the Central African Republic using the testimony of witnesses and visits to key sites.

Les Parisiennes

May 2009 •French

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.