A movie about how cities change

This film looks at HafenCity Hamburg as a big urban project that's been shaped over time, through planning, and constant adaptation. It mixes modern cinematography with old footage from many years, creating a visual conversation between the area's initial ideas and how it looks today.

Instead of showing HafenCity as a finished image, the film shows it as an urban area that's always changing. It's defined by process, ambition, and the way its identity emerges little by little.

Director's Statement

This film looks at HafenCity Hamburg as a spatial project defined by duration.

I was interested in how its identity has been built over time through planning, phases, use, and how vision and reality have gradually aligned. I was trying to mix things up and use a cinematic language that could capture the district as an evolving urban structure.

The film combines modern cinematography with archival footage recorded over several years, offering a layered temporal perspective. This connection between the past and present was key to the project, showing HafenCity not as a static development, but as a series of changes where the city's character gradually takes shape.

So, the film isn't so much about finishing something as it is about how cities change over time.

DOP: Spannweite

4k Version on youTube