This is a Public Lecture Series conceived and produced by Prof Nasrin Seraji in 2020 on behalf of the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong.
I was involved in the conception, research, and production of the "director's cut".
Other collaborators include Annie Lye (director's cut), Anthony Lam (graphic design), and Eunice Kwok (event coordination).
Other collaborators include Annie Lye (director's cut), Anthony Lam (graphic design), and Eunice Kwok (event coordination).
10 weeks / 55 films + documentaries / 25 hours of lecture
137+ hours of editing / 290 minutes of director's cut
137+ hours of editing / 290 minutes of director's cut
Lecture Series Poster (designed by Anthony Lam)
Lecture Series Poster (designed by Anthony Lam)
To watch the full lecture followed by discussions with invited speakers and moderators, visit the Facebook series / the HKU website; or scroll down to watch cuts of selected episodes.
Introduction to the Lecture Series by Prof Nasrin Seraji
In December 2019 an invisible virus invaded parts of China. On the 14th of March the French president declared war on the baptised Covid-19, an invisible but present enemy. Schools, Universities, and all public institutions shut their doors, avoiding massive propagation of the virus.
Universities in Hong Kong, their students, teachers and administrative staff had already had a very difficult first semester due to massive protests and political unrest on the extradition laws. This city that always represented and felt like one of the most efficient and ordered cities in the world now looked vandalised and bruised, crying for redemption. In the second semester, the enemy was silent, invisible and lethal. It would take its victims in the most excruciating way; leaving them breathless.
All Universities, as did all governments, could only rely on the advice of chief medical advisors, Deans of medical schools, and distinguished professors of virology and epidemiology who became the new landmarks of every nation and society. Most Universities suspended classes and asked everyone to prepare online instructions urgently. By mid-April, Zoom participants across the world had increased to three hundred million. Every school of architecture made its lectures and reviews “truly public”. Watching a screen was and will be for a long time the new way of receiving and delivering lectures, courses, discussions and even an Apéro amongst friends!
At HKU and the Department of Architecture, we pride ourselves on turning cloudy skies and constraints into bright horizons. This fall’s lecture series will exploit our relationship with the screen, we pay homage to many directors and creators of the “Seventh Art”.
We will turn our public lecture series into a publicly global film-lecture series; screening many films that have directly or indirectly situated architecture in a larger context of the city and its socio-economic intricacies will be the centre of our debates.
Ten categories of films will be discussed by directors / historians / architects / designers/ experts and cinéphiles.
