Eight films on the impact of design will precede this year’s edition of What Design Can Do during the What Design Can Do Film Festival from 1 to 8 May in Amsterdam.
In the week leading up to WDCD14, a documentary film related to What Design Can Do will be screened each evening at De Balie in Amsterdam. Each screening will be preceded by an introduction from a design insider.
WDCDFF kicks off on May 1 with ‘If You Build It’ (2012), a portrait of designer-activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller who work with local high school students in Bertie County, the poorest part of North Carolina, to transform both their community and their lives. Pilloton herself will introduce the film via Skype.
Next up is ‘Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case’ (2012) on May 2. The film is a detailed report by the artist himself on his detention and prosecution in 2011. It is followed by ‘The Human Scale’ (2012) on May 3, which is based on the ideas of Danish architect Jan Gehl. The film featuring thinkers, architects and urban planners from across the globe who share Gehl’s vision to build cities that take into account human needs for inclusion and intimacy.
Sunday May 4 sees the screening of ‘Google and the World Brain’ (2013), a film on Google’s failed effort to digitize every book in existence and, with that, to create a higher form of intelligence. Opposition from authors defending their copyrights finally put an end to the project in 2011.
‘Design & Thinking’ (2012)on Monday May 5 is a film by two Taiwanese graduates from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Mu-Ming Tsai and Iris Lai, on the concept of Design Thinking. On Tuesday 6 May, two days before he speaks at WDCD14, Paul Smith is portrayed in the film ‘Paul Smith — Gentleman Designer’.
May 7 is reserved for Nelly Ben Hayoun’s provocative ‘The international space orchestra’ (2013) on the benefits of creativity for science and technology.
The WDCD Film Festival will conclude on Thursday May 8 with the film ‘The Naked Brand’ (2013), about how corporations can help save the planet by telling the truth and working hard to create better products and a better planet.
All films start at 21:15
De Balie
Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10
Amsterdam
020 5535100
www.debalie.nl