What is the city without night culture? That is the central question of the films AFFR will be showing at Weelde Festival this summer. The festival offers a 24 hour programme, from 11 till 11, with multiple stages and a line-up of artists, musicians and performances; this year’s edition is entitled ‘Forever Temporary’, to pay tribute to all the places Vrijstaat Weelde has had to bid farewell to over the past year and to honour the lost nightlife of Rotterdam.
Especially for Weelde Festival, AFFR has selected two British films which put night culture centre stage: Free Party: A Folk History (Aaron Trinder, UK, 2023), a light-hearted documentary about the 90s illegal rave scene – ‘the party so wild the British state had to rewrite the law to ban it’, and Beats (Brian Welsh, UK, 2019), a festival favourite that follows two best friends during ‘the best night of their boring lives’, which literally submerges the viewer in the scene. Both films highlight the value of nightlife, and how government policy can make but also try to break it – but are also a party to watch.
Tickets for the festival are available through Weelde’s website, keep an eye on the AFFR socials for more information on our programme! NB: the AFFR films will be screened during the night programme and can therefore only be seen with a night ticket or a Passe Partout, not with a day ticket.
