About

Please note this session of 'The Poetic Cities of Joris Ivens' is with the films' original soundtrack. This screening is free.

Regen (Rain) 1929

Co-directed by Mannus Franken and Joris Iven, Rain depicts Amsterdam as it transitions from sunny walkways and canal boats to umbrellas unfurling, rain-slicked streets, puddles reflecting bicycles and the city’s population dashing for cover. A beautifully poetic film that focuses on movement and abstraction.

12 minutes | All Ages

...à Valparaiso 1963

'In 1962 Joris Ivens was invited to Chile for teaching and filmmaking. Together with students he made this short film. Contrasting the prestigious history of the port with the present, this is a portrait of the city built on 42 hills, with its wealth and poverty, its daily street life and activity.' MUBI

24 minutes | Ages 15+

La Seine a Rencontré Paris (The Seine Meets Paris) 1957

'A poetic impression of the Seine in Paris, the city to which Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens moved in the 1950s to escape persecution in the Netherlands for making a film that supported the Indonesian independence movement. Iven used the river as a visual leitmotif in a portrait of everyday Parisian life. His film follows the river from its source as it widens, passes industrial areas and enters the center of Paris, with all the famous landmarks along its banks.

Accompanied by accordion music and a mournful poem by Jaques Prévert, Ivens affectionately documents the Parisians’ relationship with the Seine: people wash clothes in the river, men fish on the banks, lovers embrace and rows of art students sit and sketch their city. In 1958, the film won the Palme d’Or for best short film at Cannes.' IDFA

29 minutes | All Ages