A City at Chandigarh
by Alain Tanner
Switzerland, India
Script: Alain Tanner et John Berger
Cinematographer: Ernest Artaria
Music: Chander Kanta Khosla (sitar), Gopal Das Garg (tabla), Sharda Bhardwaj (vocals), Devendra Murdeshwar, Parma Lal Gosh and Prakash Wadhera (flutes)
Voice OVer: John Berger
Production: Alain Tanner and Ernest Artaria
Distribution: Trigon Film (Suisse)
Year: 1966
16 mm, Colour, 52 min,
OV French, English with French Subtitles
Unreleased
One year after Le Corbusier's death, Alain Tanner starts shooting his film in a city left in the stage of urban project. However, the city already has a population of 120 000 inhabitants at that time. The film not only presents the architectural and technical problematic of such enterprise, but also highlights the way the inhabitants elaborate solutions and appropriate the city. This poetical and intellectual essay shows how the construction of a city may contribute to progress, given specific economical and social conditions.
