What is RULFF?
The project operates through the collection and digitization of community-contributed films, creating a digital portal that traces the evolution of local neighborhoods. Through the production of comparative film essays and storytelling workshops, the initiative aims to bring together filmmakers from all ages and local communities, turning personal archives into a resource for co-creation. These activities culminate in a public film festival featuring student films and professional filma, designed to spark meaningful dialogue between filmmakers, researchers, local stakeholders, and the general public. Ultimately, RULFF demonstrates how historical moving images can serve as inspiration for more human-centric urban environments, ensuring that the smart cities of tomorrow are built upon the lived experiences and social fabrics of yesterday.
Rationale & Impact
This project directly supports Horizon Mission 3 (Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities) mainly in the following dimensions:
| No. Short description | Start & end date |
|---|---|
1. Phase 1: Retrieval & Digitisation |
(M1–M7) Sep. 2026 – Mar. 2027 |
2. Phase 2: Comparative Fieldwork | (M8–M11) Apr. 2027 – Jul. 2027 |
3. Phase 3: Co-Creation & Prototyping | (M12–M16) Aug. 2027 – Dec. 2027 |
4. Phase 4: The Film Festival & Dialogue | Jan. 2028 – Apr. 2028
|
TEAMWORK
Since September 2024, Lusófona and VIA have been collaborating on the FilmEU_WIRE pilot “Immersive Shipwrecks”. Building on this partnership, VSMU was invited as the artistic and technical curator for its archival strength, VIA as the urban research lead for its focus on sustainable modeling, and Lusófona as the lead for engagement and dissemination.
Consortium Roles & Responsibilities
To digitalize analog formats and to ensure the cinematic quality of the student productions.
To analyse the archives to identify overlooked’ climate resilience potentials and to coordinate the Creative Reflection Report.
To manage the Citizen Archive Portal and to coordinate the multi-city Film Festival.