Architecture and film

Starting in November the British Film Institute's season of cinematic masterpieces is being shown to mark the 175th anniversary of the RIBA.

The series includes expressionist silent drama, contemporary documentaries, cinematic 'essays', and both European and Hollywood classics. All provide a wealth of stunning imagery and an often bitter-sweet commentary on life.

Screenings will take place at BFI Southbank and at the BFI Mediatheques in London (BFI Southbank), Derby (QUAD) and Cambridge (new Central Library).

The BFI Southbank's programme includes Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927) where the 'evil' city is represented by a murderous vamp who nearly destroys the idyll of two rural innocents; The Fountainhead (1948), in which Gary Cooper plays an idealistic architect battling to break down architectural boundaries; and the hugely entertaining documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) created from scores of clips from fictional films set in LA. Tickets may be purchased by calling the BFI box office on +44 (0)20 7928 3232 or online at tickets.bfi.org.uk.

A special selection of rare British films and TV documentaries from the BFI National Archive can be viewed free of charge in the Mediatheques, as well as online at www.screenonline.org.uk and the BFI's You Tube channel www.youtube.com/user/BFIfilms. They include László Moholy-Nagi's New Adventure At The London Zoo, and The Ten Year Plan, in which a young Charles Hawtrey of Carry On fame gamely attempts to promote post-war prefabs.

BFI Southbank

• Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927. Dir: F W Murnau)
• Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948. Dir: H C Potter)
  • + Architectural Millinery (1954. Dir: S Peterson)
• Playtime (1967. Dir: J Tati)
• Model Shop (1968. Dir: J Demy)
• Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003. Dir: T Andersen)
• My Winnipeg (2008. Dir: G Maddin)
  • + The Fugitive Futurist: A Q-Riosity By 'Q' (1924. Dir: G Quiribety)
• Of Time And The City (2008. Dir: T Davies)
  • + Proud City: A Plan For London (1946. Dir: R Keene)
• Citizen Kane (1941. Dir: O Welles)
• The Belly Of An Architect (1987. Dir: P Greenaway)
• A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions From Curitiba, Brazil (2006. Dir: G B del Bello)
• Twelve Views Of Kensal House (1984. Dir: P Wyeth)
• The Fountainhead (1949. Dir: K Vidor)
• L'Eclisse (1962. Dir: M Antonioni)
• Sketches Of Frank Gehry (2005. Dir: S Pollack)
• Manhatta (1921. Dir: P Strand).

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