Filming the City: Summer School with Beka & Lemoine

The S AM’s summer exhibition ‘Homo Urbanus: A Citymatographic Odyssey by Bêka & Lemoine’ examines the relationship of people to public space through a filmic investigation of ten global cities. With the support of LINA, a European network of architectural institutions, the S AM is organizing a week-long summer film workshop that applies these methodologies to the local context: Basel.

Directed by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine of Bêka & Lemoine, this workshop held in English focuses on the potential of the filmic medium in articulating alternative identities for the city, one based less on representative images and monuments, but rather the everyday actions and movements of its inhabitants.

The workshop’s main emphasis is on the quality and relevance of ideas and a unique point of view. In other words, innovative and thought-provoking positions should be the focus, instead of a search for technical and aesthetic perfection. Technique is be seen as a tool – not a goal.

Over the course of five days, participants gained exposure to basic concepts of film technique and theory as applied to architecture and the city. Following a crash-course on representative approaches to architecture on film, participants dived into the production phase, identifying sites in Basel to work on, developing scripts, filming, editing, and undertaking post-production in quick succession. 

The final output of the workshop are short films representing a personal, sharp, and critical interpretation of the relationship that Basel has developed with its river. 

The workshop is augmented by a series of theoretical inputs in the form of public lectures and presentations by Bêka & Lemoine and visiting LINA fellows from outside of Switzerland.

What we look for in LINA fellows

LINA Fellows were invited to Basel to participate in the summer school, working closely with Bêka & Lemoine to develop a personal and critical filmic interpretation of Basel's relationship with the Rhine river. Additionally, LINA Fellows were given the opportunity to present their own projects and work to the larger public in a special "Feierabendbier" event during the summer school week.