Organized by the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK), the 13th Budapest Architecture Film Days will be held March 4-7 at the Toldi Cinema, and March 8-17 at the Távmozi (Online) Cinema. The motto of this year’s festival is Reconnect, referring to the restoration of connections between individuals and community, built environment and nature. In 2021, more than a dozen award-winning and freshly debuting films reflect on this subject.
Last year has turned the world on its head: in early March, the 12th Budapest Architecture Film Days were the last major cultural event to be held in Budapest. But none of the films screened at the festival could have predicted what happened after that. The world got locked down, services stopped, and as hospitals slowly filled up, we were stuck at home, trapped in front of our screens.
The pandemic drew an even more profound attention to many trends, which the festival regularly addresses. Unbridled urbanization and the destruction of natural habitats are making all of us face unprecedented consequences. Rising unemployment and expiring moratoriums put many families at risk of eviction. Tourism-dependent cities must tackle serious economic challenges. Inequalities between wealthier and poorer urban areas are now more prominent, increasingly isolating not only groups of different social statuses, but also generations.
At the same time, the lockdown accelerated a number of long-awaited positive social transformations as well, which the festival audience might have already encountered in past films. Green urban spaces and eco-technologies acquired a greater significance, and as a result of plummeting travels, air quality improved in many places. Certain city administrations, often in defiance of their own governments, have introduced a variety of sustainable transport solutions and democratic decision-making processes. Solidarity networks matured in social movements have greatly contributed to the people pulling through the pandemic: close-knit neighborhood communities, food distributing charities and other supportive actions have helped the most vulnerable groups to endure the crisis.
Past years’ festivals have painted an accurate picture of the most important problems and opportunities in connection with architecture and urban transformation. The motto of the 13th Budapest Architecture Film Days is Reconnect, its main themes are characterized by the subjects of restarting, reuniting individuals and community, solidarity, empathy for others, a more conscious and gentler relationship with nature, traveling without environmental pollution and the vision of sustainable development.
The mission of the festival is to provide a year-by-year overview of the architectural questions currently engaging the world, the region and Hungary, as well as to serve as a meeting point for architects, film lovers and anyone interested. The festival considers architecture and urban planning to be common causes, therefore its goal with its carefully selected program is to initiate a dialogue about built and natural environments and to encourage the audience to think and take action.
Do you live in a house? Do you like movies? Then travel without having to move a muscle from San Francisco to Copenhagen, from Havana to London, from Marseille to Dubai. You can do so from March 4 to 7 at the Toldi Cinema and from March 8 to 17 by visiting the Online Távmozi Cinema.
For more information about the festival and the films to be screened, click here.
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Source: Press release
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