Film & Architecture Studio 2023 – Hot in the City

A renowned course focused on understanding the city through the language of film led by architect, curator and filmmaker Jord den Hollander.

In 2023, the Independent School for the City and the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (AFFR) joined forces again to organize the next edition of the famous Film and Architecture Studio, supervised by architect, curator, and filmmaker Jord den Hollander.

The Film and Architecture Studio has proved itself in the past years as one of the most acclaimed courses on film and architecture in the world. It was a one-week course that offered an in-depth introduction to understanding the language of film as a way to explore the relationship between film, cities and architecture. The course focused on learning and understanding the narrative of filmmaking as a research tool to better understand your urban surroundings. Participants in this course were introduced to the essential elements of filmmaking and learned how to relate these to architecture and the city. The focus of the studio was not so much on the technical aspects of filmmaking and postproduction, but rather on making a script and using film as a tool to structure your thoughts and to develop a narrative. The central topic of this year’s edition was urban heat stress and how this influences both life in the city as well as spatial developments.

The Film and Architecture Studio was a one-week course, with collective activities in Rotterdam spread over two subsequent Fridays and Saturdays and one Wednesday evening in between. During this week, participants analysed how urban heat influences life in the city, what it means for people and the environment, and what is being done against it. In this period, participants developed a concept for a short film of around two minutes; they worked out a script, shoot footage and make a first draft. Filmmaker, curator Jord den Hollander and the team of the Independent School provided them with input and inspiration, and together with the other participants we’ll discuss everyone’s progress.

Participants got the opportunity to present their short films at the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam and to attend the opening of the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam in October 2023.

TUTOR

Jord den Hollander
After having finished his master’s in archi- tecture at the Technical University of Delft, Jord den Hollander followed a course in scenario writing at the Filmschool in London. Throughout his career he has often combined both disciplines. He has made documentaries about art and architecture, has written and directed internationally acclaimed television series for children about art and science and is curator of the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (www.affr.nl), the world’s biggest architecture film festival, which he co-founded in 2002. In addition, he has designed a unique oeuvre that includes an architecture center for children in Almere, a mobile kid’s library, a floating hotel and a tensegrity bicycle bridge.