Nitin Bathla

Cinema and the City in the Age of Planetary Urbanization

Amid deepening socio-ecological crises, urban realities are changing fundamentally. Cinema, a medium historically intertwined with the city, has likewise undergone a profound transformation in its modes of representation and visual culture since the late 1980s. Today, filmmakers, photographers, and radical artists investigate the distant landscapes and territories of extended urbanization in all their complexity. Films like Behemoth (Zhao Liang, 2015), Homo Urbanus (Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, 2010), and Leviathan (Véréna Paravel, 2012) exemplify this practice. But how do cinema and the representation of the city mutually shape each other? This book stages an encounter between filmmaking and the built environment, as well as film theory and the theory of planetary urbanization by deploying the notion of the urban sensorium as a conceptual lens. It foregrounds the multifaceted sensory experiences of urban life within and beyond the city, and its representation in cinema. With a foreword by Neil Brenner and contributions by Nitin Bathla, Silvia Cipelletti, Markus Lähteenmäki, Klearjos E. Papanicolaou, Äsel Kadyrkhanova, Mosè Cometta, Jacqueline Maurer, Sofie Stilling, Søren Nielsen, Hans Teerds, Fred Truniger, Emil Hvelplund Kristiansen, Anne Romme, Lorenzo Tripodi, Adam Jasper, Junia Cambraia Mortimer, Roberto Luís Monte-Mór, Rosa Barba, Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. Sniadecki, Christian Schmid, Ana Vaz, Hira Nabi, Chrystel Oloukoï, Louise Lemoine and Ila Bêka Brings together contemporary visual culture with the transformative theory of planetary urbanization Features contributions from scholars, researchers, filmmakers, and practitioners Draws on various academic disciplines and creative practices including film, urban studies, geography, architecture, architectural history, and cultural studies Excerpts of works by the filmmakers featured in the book can be accessed via the ETH Zürich Research Collection: All the Dreams We Dream: Excerpt ÄSEL KADYRKHANOVA https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788727 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/PcPvCeiplv6 55°42’14.8”N 12°33’18.4”E SOFIE STILLING, SØREN NIELSEN, and HANS TEERDS https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788734 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/AMdfbtCtOvq Teaching Architecture Through an Eye-Level Perspective: Examples EMIL HVELPLUND KRISTIANSEN and ANNE ROMME https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788738 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/E_FW8yYedhI https://video.ethz.ch/!v/MOQdFlbJsgk https://video.ethz.ch/!v/AII3KaUrTYu Cinematic Urbanism: Examples LORENZO TRIPODI https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788749 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/FjH1PqUq0jr https://video.ethz.ch/!v/GA-bRExEClR https://video.ethz.ch/!v/AJ8mR5Uj-9T We Have Extra Lives – Cinema, Gaming, Language, and the Production of Hong Kong Space: Accompaniment ADAM JASPER and PETER NELSON https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788744 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/BR8nLSO09Oe Urban-Nature Archives: Fragments JUNIA CAMBRAIA MORTIMER and ROBERTO LUÍS MONTE-MÓR https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788732 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/NQYeveOFdBD https://video.ethz.ch/!v/AebcYBoy-VN https://video.ethz.ch/!v/C86DCKISH_v Community Media: Videos CHRISTIAN SCHMID https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788750 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/Pjs9WjHu53t https://video.ethz.ch/!v/HYy-qEUrPqy All That Perishes At The Edge Of Land: Excerpts HIRA NABI https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788729 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/DlUjDUUFiSS https://video.ethz.ch/!v/MTUykQT6Pwv https://video.ethz.ch/!v/MFhdm2NKbQ6 Homo Urbanus: Trailer LOUISE LEMOINE and ILA BÊKA https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000788712 https://video.ethz.ch/!v/GO2dwFW7_oi