DVD Review: Strange And Familiar: Architecture Of Fogo Island

Strange And Familiar: Architecture On Fogo Island is a wonderful documentary about a small community working to maintain its particular personality, history and culture while also drawing in new people via more contemporary architecture. Fogo Island is located off the coast of Newfoundland, and this film features some stunningly gorgeous shots of the area. Right away the documentary introduces us to Todd Saunders, an architect who grew up in Newfoundland and who returned to take on this special project, and Zita Cobb, the woman behind the Shorefast Foundation and the project.

Zita Cobb made quite a bit of money through her job, traveled the world, then returned to Fogo Island with the idea of building an inn there. She tells us, “I think that people are made of the place they’re from.” She talks about how people are tied to the place of their birth, particularly if they’re island people. And she wanted to express the feeling of the place in a contemporary way, and to attract contemporary artists from around the world to the island to work. And so it wasn’t just the inn, but also a series of smaller structures to house artists that were built there. Todd shows us some of these places built for artists, touching upon the idea of architecture that is both familiar and strange, how he attempted to put the old idea of function becoming form into the contemporary architecture. One building was designed specifically for writers, and the whole place is like a giant desk. It’s remarkable.

There is a wonderfully casual and friendly feel in the way both Todd and Zita talk to us about the place, about the architecture and about the project, as if they’re speaking to people they genuinely like, people they care about. And it’s such a natural way of speaking, even though of course this project is of tremendous importance, not only to them, but to their families and the community.

The film also follows the progress of the construction of the inn, and we meet some of the designers and workers, and learn that whenever possible local craftsmen and local materials were used. The detail is great. We even meet the people designing and making the quilts. And what’s striking is that all of these people, in these various creative areas, all have the same goal, and truly feel connected. It’s a beautiful thing. I want to go to this inn (and I’d like to stay in room 22 – you probably will too once you see this film).

Strange And Familiar: Architecture Of Fogo Island was directed by Katherine Knight and Marcia Connolly, and was released on DVD on March 29, 2016 through First Run Features. The DVD includes a photo gallery, featuring images of some of the structures.