‘Bickels - Heinz Emigholz’

In the presence of Heinz Emigholz (director).

In the second part of his “Streetscapes” series, Heinz Emigholz looks at the constructions of architect Samuel Bickels (1909-1975). In total, the film looks at 22 buildings designed by Bickels in Israel and Sao Paulo. Amongst them is the Casa do Povo cultural centre, icon of the secular Jewish workers’ movement, dining rooms, children’s homes, and buildings intended for the agriculture of various kibbutzim. The edifices, community spaces that are partially empty, are a reminder of the socialist ideas which sometimes influenced their construction. In Bickels [Socialism], Emigholz turns his camera on the architect’s constructions without the slightest commentary. The rooms, the stairs, the halls, the corridors take you on a journey through time, while the soundtrack brings the audience skilfully back to the present which exists outside these walls. In the distance, you can pick out the sounds of building sites, a brouhaha, distinct and indistinct noises.