A Confined Urban Vision is the first short film competition of A-Place (www.a-place.eu), organised by City Space Architecture, as part of the international film festival “Visioni Urbane/Urban Visions. Beyond the Ideal City”, that will take place in April 22th-25th 2021 in Bologna, Italy.

A Confined Urban Vision is interested to investigate human life during the COVID-19 pandemic. While global lockdown destabilized the economy and challenged country leaders, at the human level the pandemic generated isolation and loneliness, with a significant raise of helplessness and fear. As a reaction, many creative expressions started to redefine a sense of community across different countries and locations, strengthening solidarity and cooperation, also through social media initiatives. We, as human beings, needed to feel connected with one another, even while the virus outbreaks demanded that we remained apart, looking at the outside world from behind a window. The quarantine has raised awareness about the essential role of urban publicness for the functioning of cities and societies.

The online final event on December 18 will host the official ceremony for the announcement of the winners, the two honorable mentions and the audience award, with the participation of film-makers, jurors, critics and scholars.

Follow the live streaming on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/3879076552105590/

Website (in Italian): https://bit.ly/36ZKNsH

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The purpose of this competition is to explore and widen the meaning of places in the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, rethinking human existence in the time of the pandemic and documenting ways we can live together again in the ‘new normal’ by presenting, documenting, deconstructing, expanding, speculating, challenging concepts related to:

• the lockdown period, applying a human perspective and describing how the perception in relation to public and private places has changed, while rearranging daily routines and work activities in indoor domestic spaces;
• the recovery period, following the lockdown, in regard of physical distancing measures, with descriptions ranging from restriction of movements in public areas to new and slow restart of everyday lives, with references to the use of mobility (cars, bicycle, buses) and limitations for public life and new rules for gathering.

Jury and Awards

A multidisciplinary jury composed of A-Place project partners, will be appointed to select the shortlisted films and the winner, according to the following criteria:

• compliance to the competition
• originality of the topic addressed
• quality of narrative contents and effectiveness of visual communication
• ability to promote critical reflection or stimulate the urban imagination

External critics will be also engaged in the evaluation. Shortlisted films will be published on November 30th 2020 on City Space Architecture's website and social media. The jury will assign the Best Film Award to the winner and two honorable mentions.The most voted film will receive the Audience Award.

The awarded short films will be screened and announced online during a live streaming event on December 18th 2020.Awarded films (Best Film, two honorable Mentions and Audience Award) will be screened in Bologna during the Film Festival “Urban Visions. Beyond the Ideal City”, taking place on April 22th-25th 2021, during a special session dedicated to A Confined Urban Vision, that will include also a public dialogue and an exhibition.

The winner of A Confined Urban Vision will receive an award of 500 euros in cash. For the honorable mentions and for the Audience Award, City Space Architecture will issue a Certificate of Excellence.