A total of five online films have been selected for this programme, and Robin Hood Gardens – three times sold out and part of the Architectenweb Best of AFFR during AFFR 2022 – has the first. The film can be streamed from Friday 7 March until Thursday 3 April 2025 for €5.00, only on the AFFR Vimeo channel. A new title will be released online on Friday 4 April, so don’t wait too long! If you don’t want to miss any updates about our online film programme, subscribe to our newsletter or keep an eye on our site and socials.
Robin Hood Gardens, ’90, Adrian Dorschner, Thomas Beyer, 2022
The now-demolished council estate Robin Hood Gardens often occupies opposing positions within the architectural imagination. Was Alison and Peter Smithson’s 1972 brutalist contribution to the London cityscape a misunderstood masterpiece or a well-intentioned failure? Fifty years on, filmmakers Thomas Beyer and Adrian Dorschner capture the building in all its glory right before the wrecking ball brings an end to the Smithson’s magnum opus. While the controversial East London council estate is honoured at the Venice Biennale, the film revisits the building’s critics, champions and the inhabitants themselves, to determine the true legacy of this concrete utopia. Robin Hood Gardens is dead. Long live Robin Hood Gardens.
To my pleasant surprise and contrary to my expectations, the AFFR audience favourites turn out to be films about what we could call the anti-heroes - or perhaps more suitably the 'anti-landmarks' - of architecture. Sensitive, entertaining, and unpredictable, each in its own unique way, these are some of the films that moved you!
– Cristina Ampatzidou, Head of Programming AFFR
About ‘The Five Films That Moved You’
Our online film programme offers a retrospective on the festival’s rich history while also highlighting AFFR PLAYTIME – the online AFFR cinema launched in 2017. This platform allows us to make more architecture films accessible to a wider audience for an extended period.
AFFR 25 Years!
The first initiative for AFFR – then the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam – began in 2000. That’s why, this year, we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary in grant style. We’re not just looking back but also looking ahead, with retrospectives, debates, classics, immersive media, current issues, and a revamped website.
