Five Films We’re Definitely Going to See at New York’s Architecture & Design Film Festival

This year’s programming focuses on big classics, but also zooms in on the hard to see.

Now in its sixth year, the Architecture & Design Film Festival is returning to New York City with a rich schedule of speakers and a gamut of films focused on architecture and design—from eras past to the here and now. Here are five features you won’t want to miss.

City Dreamers—October 20

With original interviews, archival material, and gorgeous camerawork, director Joseph Hillel chronicles the lasting influence of four women on architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture. Phyllis Lambert, Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, and Denise Scott Brown planned the future of the built environment with an emphasis on social and environmental values. The impact and significance of their work now rings truer than ever.

The New Bauhaus—October 16

In the midst of Nazi-era Germany, Lásló Moholy-Nagy fled to Chicago to proliferate the Bauhaus school of thought. The New Bauhaus would go on to transform design, photography, and arts education with an influence that reached far beyond America’s borders. Award-winning Los Angeles–based director Alysa Nahmias brings his story to life.

The Human Shelter—October 18

Within the scope 68 minutes, director Boris Benjamin Bertram shows us the vastly different ways humans make a home. He ventures from a lagoon settlement in Lagos, to a refugee camp in Iraq, to a 64-square-meter dwelling in Tokyo.

That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles—October 17

Director/writer Christopher Hawthorne examines five of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mayan-style homes in and around L.A. Once an architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times, and now chief design officer for the city, Hawthorne authoritatively frames the Southern California style as a soul-searching journey for Wright, who was, at that time, on the heels of tragic loss.

PUSH—October 17

PUSH follows Canadian-born Leilani Farha as she tries to understand endemic population displacement plaguing cities around the world. The 90-minute film by award-winning director Fredrik Gertten reveals the forces denying so many the basic human right of housing—and therefore a safe, happy, and healthy life.

Related Reading: 10 Modern Homes That Made a Star Appearance in Films