The Downtown Project

Together We Cycle

June 2022 •English

The film Together we cycle investigates the critical events that has led to the revival of the Dutch cycling culture. For most people, cycling in the Netherlands, seems a natural phenomenon. However, until the 1970s the development of mobility in the Netherlands followed trents across the globe. The bicycle had had its day, and the future belonged to the car. The only thing that had to be done was to adapt cities to the influx of cars. Then Dutch society took a different turn. Against all odds people kept on cycling. The question why this happened in the Netherlands, has not an easy answer. There are many factors, events and circumstances that worked together, both socially and policy-wise. In Together we cycle, key players tell the story of the bumpy road which led to the current state. Where cycling is an obvious choice for most citizens.

Radiant City

May 2007 •English

Since the end of World War II, one of kind of urban residential development has dominate how cities in North America have grown, the suburbs. In these artificial neighborhoods, there is a sense of careless sprawl in an car dominated culture that ineffectually tries to create the more organically grown older communities. Interspersed with the comments of various experts about the nature of suburbia

Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo

January 2009 •English

When Tomoko finds some messages for a 'Mr Smith' on a lost mobile phone, she finds herself on an 'Alice in Wonderland' journey through Tokyo's boulevards and back alleys. From the tyranny of symmetry in soaring office blocks - to buildings that look like space-ships, this creative documentary shows us the city's soul.

Rue de Blamage

April 2017 •German

The Baselstrasse is a street in Lucerne. People call it "Rue de Blamage" – it's a noisy street tucked into a narrow space between a hill and a train track. The people who live here don't usually mingle with the rich and famous, but even the roughest haunt can be a home to those who live and work there – and Baselstrasse's two kilometers of asphalt are no different.

Amancio Williams

November 2013 •English

A biography documentary of the Argentine modernist architect Amancio Williams.

Dandara: Enquanto Morar for um Privilégio, Ocupar é um Direito

September 2013 •Portuguese

The Little Ancestor

September 2024 •

An ancestral house builds itself, comes to life, and shows us its story spanning one hundred fifty years. Through the ages, it allows us to perceive the passage of time.

The Whole Gritty City

October 2013 •English

Young members of 3 New Orleans school marching bands grow up in America's most musical city, and one of its most dangerous. Their band directors get them ready to perform in the Mardi Gras parades, and teach them to succeed and to survive.

Chicago at the Crossroad

June 2019 •English

While gun violence was on the decline in most major US cities, why did it continue to increase in Chicago's segregated communities? What is known about the systems that created the problem, the laws that isolated it, and the policies that abandoned it? Using dramatic footage, including interviews with residents on the front lines over the last 15 years, this documentary opens a rare historical window into the systematic creation of poverty stricken communities plagued by gun violence. 

Jaime Lerner - Uma História de Sonhos

September 2016 •Portuguese

Beyonce & Jay-Z: Power Love

December 2021 •English

A merger of megastar music. Discover the story of multi-genre performer and fashion promoter, Beyonce Knowles sand the world's first hip hop billionaire, Jay-Z.

Québec...?

January 1967 •French

This short documentary film is a fascinating portrait of urban and rural Quebec in the late 1960s, as the province entered modernity. The collective work produced for the Quebec Ministry of Industry and Commerce calls on several major Quebec figures.

La grande roue

August 2023 •French

Unarmed Verses

May 2017 •English

Toronto filmmaker Charles Officer profiles the young people of Villaways Park, a housing project on brink of historic change.

Corvin variációk

Invalid date •Hungarian

Encounter on Urban Environment

January 1971 •English

This feature documentary takes a look at how the Halifax/Dartmouth community in Nova Scotia was stimulated by a week-long session held by a panel of specialists from different fields who met with members of this urban community to consider the future of the area and the responsibility of the citizens and government in planning the future.

Inquiry: The Great British Housing Disaster

September 1984 •English

David Jones investigates how 1960s council housing came to be built so poorly that thousands later needed to be demolished.

Anatomie de Los Angeles

September 1969 •French

Une ville de la mer ou comment survivre à Venise

January 1970 •French

Ghar Mein Shehar Hona

Invalid date •English

via print and film, love and music, state propaganda and people's archives, five-year plans and Emergency.