The topic of the Film Days 2015 »Stadt.Land.Wandel.« was chosen with reference to the topic of the junior researcher’s award, which was part of the Austrian Development Research Award 2015. While the Development Research Award focused on development and sustainability of cities and towns in the global South, the spectrum of the Film Days was extended to urbanisation, sustainability as well as ecological and social change worldwide – thus, also in the global North. The Film Days 2015 examined many different aspects of »town« and »countryside«.
The focus of the second day was laid on life in Latin American cities and towns. The documentary film »Cities on Speed: Bogota Change« and the Nicaraguan feature film »La Yuma« were shown. »Bogota Change« refers to the role of political actors and shows the scope of action of politics. By showing two Colombian mayors’ creative and innovative strategies, it can be seen what politics can do to achieve positive changes in the quality of life.
Moreover, findings from the APPEAR project urban_managua, which dealt with informal urban settlements in Nicaragua, were presented. The Nicaraguan-Austrian project consortium has worked for two years to introduce creative urban design tools and innovative methods in urban research into the curricula of the Universidad Centroamericana. The evening was rounded off with Nicaraguan music and »La Yuma«, the first feature film to be produced in Nicaragua for twenty years. It portrays the life of a young female boxer in a poor village in Managua.
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