A fascinating, unusual documentary that tells us more about the genius of Auguste Perret – one of the most influental architects – then any drawings or sketches. The film is an intimate portrait of the historic building on the 25 Bis Rue Franklin in Paris built by Perret in 1903. We enter the building with the eccentric caretaker, Monsieur Catello and explore the 9 storey house with the residents from their unique point of view. The film is searching for the elusive and subjective element of the building’s history. The building appears as a sedimentation of life stories where the layers together form an undefined essence that could be called ‘the place’s soul’.
About the directors
Ila Bêka is an Italian artist and filmmaker who lives and works in Paris. He trained as an architect with a degree from the IUAV of Venice and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Paris-Belleville. Louise Lemoine is a French filmmaker who lives and works in France. She graduated in cinema and philosophy from Sorbonne, Paris.
They mainly focus their research on experimenting new narrative and cinematographic forms in relation to contemporary architecture. The uniqueness of their work holds on their subjective, creative and humoristic look at masterpieces of architecture portrayed through the depiction of their daily life. Presented by The New York Times as the ‘cult figures in the European architecture world’, Bêka and Lemoine are teaching at Columbia University since 2013.
Their films in previous festival editions: Barbicania, Inside Renzo Piano, Koolhaas Houselife