Film festival explores how to shape better cities
A series of short films will be screened in Palmerston North to inspire people to think differently about how the city operates.
The Better Cities Film Festival, which is free to attend, will be held at Globe Theatre from 5.30pm on May 9.
Palmerston North City Council senior urban designer Dave Charnley said the festival was for the public to engage with city making through a critical lens.
‘‘Hopefully there is something there for everyone to take something away from the evening.’’
There would be a collection of about 10 short films from around the world that looked at city making through different perspectives.
The films focused on making better cities, towns and neighbourhoods and topics included how data could provide evidence to solve issues and the role architecture could play in city form.
The films were mainly documentaries and ranged from two to 18 minutes long.
Charnley said a big part of urban design and creating better cities was looking at what other cities had done.
From there it was about how that concept could be moulded or adapted to fit Palmerston North.
‘‘We are always looking beyond our city, both nationally and globally. When you look at the challenges most cities are facing, they are consistent.’’
The festival was part of the council’s Creative City Conversations programme, a series of free public talks to inspire and ignite awider conversation about the opportunities for the city.
Previous events in the programme included talks about the role of housing for health and wellbeing and the importance of walkability.
‘‘This time around rather than have someone present a discussion to an audience, I thought it might be fun to have a short film night.’’
Charnley hoped this series of films could provide inspiration for shaping the future of Palmerston North.
‘‘Who knows, one day we might be able to make a short film about what we are doing in Palmy and put that up for consideration.’’