Roger D'Astous

Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect

2015

Chambord, the most impressive castle in the Loire Valley, in France, a truly Renaissance treasure, has always been an enigma to generations of historians. Why did King Francis I (1494-1547), who commissioned it, embark on this epic project in the heart of the marshlands in 1519? What significance did he want the castle to have? What role did his friend, Italian genius Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) play? Was he the architect or who was?

Fernand Pouillon, Une architecture habitée

2017

In this documentary, Marie-Claire Rubinstein reveals to us, through the testimonies of the inhabitants who live there, the architectural achievements of the French urban planner Fernand Pouillon in Algiers. In particular the vast complexes of hundreds of social housing units, including the most famous Diar E Saâd (1953), Diar El Mahçoul (1954) and Climat de France (1957). The historical context, during the war of independence is related by the historian Benjamin Stora and Nadir Boumaza. This documentary also evokes the personality of Fernand Pouillon in a post-colonial context.

Louis Cyr: The Strongest Man in the World

2013

Biopic of Louis Cyr, strongest man in the world at the end of the 19th Century.

Entretien en six temps avec Gilles Groulx

2002

A Very English Genius

2002

The work and unexplained death of Michael Ventris, the English architect, classicist, and philologist who deciphered the ancient Mycenaean Greek script Linear B, are portrayed.

Return Home

1992

After the near death of her grandfather, Chinese Canadian filmmaker Michelle Wong embarks on a personal journey back home to her small town of St. Paul, Alberta to speak to her grandparents about their journey from China to Canada.

In Residence: Ricardo Bofill

2014

There are houses, and then there’s Ricardo Bofill’s house: a brutalist former cement factory of epic proportions on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. A grandiose monument to industrial architecture in the Catalonian town of Sant Just Desvern, La Fabrica is a poetic and personal space that redefines the notion of the conventional home. “Nowadays we want everyone who comes through our door to feel comfortable, but that's not Bofill’s idea here,” says filmmaker Albert Moya, who directed latest installment of In Residence. “It goes much further, you connect with the space in a more spiritual way.” Rising above lush gardens that mask the grounds’ unglamorous roots, the eight remaining silos that once hosted an endless stream of workmen and heavy machinery now house both Bofill’s private life, and his award-winning architecture and urban design practice.

The American Sector

2020

A documentary about the concrete sections of the Berlin Wall that have been acquired by institutions or individuals since 1989 and are now scattered across the USA. Cherished or abandoned, they have become silent witnesses to recent history.

Summer Crisis

2013

In the summer of 1969, Bernard, a Gaspesian fisherman's son, arrive in Perce to fin work. He meets Paul, Jacques and Francis, Quebec Independence activists who have come to open the 'Fisherman's House'. They aim to organize public conferences and offer lodgings to young travelers. A motley crowd of Quebecers from all over the province soon flocks to Perce: artists, hippies, rockers, hitchhikers and the like shake local authorities. Bernard is won over by the trio's ideas and gets increasingly involved in their project. The following year, the will join the Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ) and play a pivotal role in the Summer Crisis 1969.

La seconda patria - Another Homeland

2019

Gaudí, le génie visionnaire de Barcelone

2022

In Barcelona, the Casa Batlló alone sums up the genius of Antoni Gaudí. During the exhibition devoted to it by the Musée d'Orsay, we take a guided tour of this eccentric, colorful residence, completed in 1906.

Hiroshima Mon Amour

1959

The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.

Mr Funkis

2022

Based on a series of interviews documentary film maker Anders Wahlgren made with architect Sven Markelius in 1969. Sven Markelius was one of the most radical architects in Sweden for many years. Since these interviews were the only recorded interviews made with Markelius we can get some insight into his philosophy 50 years later.

Resistance: Police Against the Wall

2020

The new Longueuil police chief, Fady Dagher, is aware of the challenges he faces. Well positioned for the next five years, he intends to make great changes within this institution. This documentary is an intimate portrait of a man, a vision and an environment into which cameras do not often have access.

Chairs for Lovers

1973

Architect Stanley King involves the local Vancouver community in urban design.