The consequences of a worldwide crisis are also becoming increasingly apparent for architecture and urban development. While in Europe we agonise over the possible consequences of shrinkage, elsewhere in the world the staggering effects of mushrooming cities are manifest. There are no traditional solutions for either problem and in consequence we must seek new ones. Some people hope for better times while others consider the present reality as the status quo. One thing is certain, confidence in megalomaniac projects supported by seemingly unlimited financial resources is, for the time being, shaken. It remains to be seen whether this should be considered a loss.

The AFFR detects a searching, optimistic movement that could counterbalance a current trend of indifference and cultural pessimism. A counter-flow in which small initiatives can lead to big successes. Film, architecture and urban development go increasingly hand-in-hand: both indeed use a story line to tie the separate scenes together, to draw a line indicating what is actually wrong and the direction in which the world should be going. Even more than all its predecessors, this festival points to the vital necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration in order to explore and expose new opportunities.

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