Winner of the first King Kong Award: The Town that Drove Away
On Sunday 12 October, during the very first AFFR Awards Ceremony, the winner of the King Kong Award was announced: The Town that Drove Away by Grzegorz Kielawski and Natalia Pietsch. The film was selected from seven nominees by an international jury consisting of Filmkrant journalist Hugo Emmerzael, architect and artistic director of CIVA Nikolaus Hirsch, chief curator of CAFx Josephine Michau, and filmmaker Ingel Vaikla. The winner received a special statue created by Studio Marco Vermeulen, which references to both Rotterdam and architectural building culture. In addition, there was a special mention for Sanatorium by Gar O’Rourke.
About the film
Due to the Ilisu dam project in Turkey, the Tigris will overflow its banks, causing the historic village of Hasankeyf – along with many other villages in the region – to be submerged. The new Hasankeyf, where the residents must relocate, is being rebuilt further from the Tigris. In the panoramic Anatolian landscape, filmmakers Pilawski and Pietsch follow two Kurdish families on their way to their new home. As their village is being demolished, they prepare themselves mentally for a new life elsewhere. The large, modern houses initially seem like progress, but homesickness soon sets in.
From the jury report
The Town That Drove Away
The Town That Drove Away has struck the jury as a stark and insightful documentary about the disappearance of homes, lives, memories and culture. It tells an urgent story about the displacement of people while focusing on their resilience and everyday activism. It is shot with a sympathetic gaze, subtle humour and a great attention to human detail and in this way manages to capture the genius loci. Without showing architecture it tells an important story about architecture, exploring how spaces shift in identity due to ideological interference. The jury sees it as a politically relevant and honest film with deep emotional resonance and images that stay with you long after the film is over.
Sanatorium – Special Mention
A timely film about a pressing geopolitical crisis with entertaining larger-than-live characters. It tells a touching, multi-layered story about resilience and shows how in architecture the past and present are always connected.
All the nominees
I Am Night at Noonday
A contemporary fable in which Don Quixote, with a colander on his head, and Sancho Panza as a food delivery rider, wreak havoc in the privatized streets of Marseille. A hybrid fiction-documentary with a playful look at gated communities and segregation.
Latina, Latina
A mesmerizing journey through memory and contested political history unfolds as a daughter uncovers her estranged father’s haunting past amid the architectural remnants of fascist Italy.
Miralles
Miralles’ work amazed everyone. This documentary takes the viewer on a poetic journey through eleven of his projects and offers a glimpse into his character and the free spirit that came with it.
Sanatorium
Near Odessa lies the Kuyalnik Sanatorium, a dated health resort where it feels as if the seventies never ended – even as the war increasingly makes its presence felt. A dryly comic portrait of colourful eccentrics who persevere stoically despite everything.
Shifting Baselines
Boca Chica, Texas – also known as Starbase, the launch base of Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX. While Musk dreams of a journey to Mars, the nearby nature reserve is plagued by pollution. Shifting Baselines tells a nuanced story, but one in which the shadows of nostalgia and colonialism are never far away.
The Town That Drove Away
Due to the Ilisu dam project in Turkey, the historic village of Hasankeyf will be submerged. A brand-new Hasankeyf is being rebuilt further from the Tigris. The large, modern houses initially seem like progress, but soon the villagers are struck by homesickness.
Vista Mare
A sharp and deeply human observation of the invisible labor behind Italy’s Adriatic tourism industry, offering a quiet, empathetic look at the people who prepare, maintain, and dismantle the architecture of mass leisure.
