Klumpner Chair staff member Klearjos Eduardo Papanicolaou and filmmaking partner Nitin Bathla have jointly won the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) 2022 Film and Video Award for their 2020 film, 'Not Just Roads'.

The 67-minute film is an ethnographic documentary film that narrates the story of a massive urban transformation underway in India.

65,400 kilometers of highways are being constructed in India at a rate of 23 kilometers a day, crisscrossing regions previously accessible only via dirt roads and narrow trails. For the local population—villagers, laborers, and nomads—the shabby infrastructure was sufficient, preserving a traditional way of life for them and the animals they coexisted with. But India’s emerging middle class demands modernization, even at the cost of trampling those who stand in the way. One of these highways is being built in Dwarka, on the outskirts of Delhi, and the consequences are dramatic: activists protest, the poor are being forced out of their homes, real-estate salesmen have dollar signs in their eyes, dogs and cows and goats roam the construction site, looking for a way out. The camera moves between them all, showing the events from unexpected angles.

Previously, the film has screened at various university and community spaces, as well as the following festivals.

Architecture Film Festival London 2021, Shortlisted for the international film competition (World Premier), United Kingdom
DocAviv International Documentary Festival 2021, Shortlisted for Beyond the Screen competition, Israel
Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam 2021, Netherlands
Copenhagen Architecture Festival 2021, Denmark
All living things Environmental Film Festival 2021, India
Dharamshala International Film Festival 2021, India
EATSA Film Festival 2021, Portugal

Film credits:

DIRECTED, WRITTEN, & PRODUCED BY
Nitin Bathla and Klearjos Eduardo Papanicolaou
​
WITH SUPPORT FROM
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, India Office
Andromeda Film AG
ETH Zürich

CINEMATOGRAPHY AND SOUND RECORDING
Nitin Bathla
​
EDITING
Klearjos Eduardo Papanicolaou
​
MUSIC, SOUND DESIGN AND MIXING
Ludwig Berger
​
POST-PRODUCTION
Patrick Lindenmaier, Davide Legittimo,
Andromeda Film AG
​
GRAPHIC AND TITLE DESIGN
Claudia Sinatra & Metaxia Markaki

For more information on the film, including trailers: notjustroadsfilm.com