The Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF), celebrates the unique creative spirit that drives architecture and design. With a curated selection of films, events and panel discussions, ADFF creates an opportunity to entertain, engage and educate anyone excited about architecture and design. It has grown into the nation’s largest film festival devoted to the subject with screenings, legendary panelists, and vibrant discussions in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

This year’s selection includes several films with Modern architecture at their core:

— A Machine to Live In documents the history of highly-controlled modernist planning in Brazil alongside radical projects in cult and mystical architecture. The film’s attention radiates outward from Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa’s capital, Brasília, to the flourishing landscape of UFO cults, pyramids, monuments, and futurist projects.

— Frey I: The Architectural Envoy and Frey II: The Architectural Interpreter examine Swiss-born architect Albert Frey who aided in the introduction of Corbusian-influenced modernism to the United States.

— Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story tells the compelling, but little-known story, of the African American architect Paul Williams’s life and how he used talent and perseverance to beat the odds and create a body of work that can be found from coast to coast. Nicknamed “Architect to the Stars,” Williams designed mansions for movie stars and millionaires in Southern California. Even at the height of his career, he wasn’t always welcome in the restaurants and hotels he designed or the neighborhoods where he designed homes, because of his race. View the webpage to see more films that are part of this year’s festival.

Each film program will include introductions by special guests and industry leaders, followed by a feature film and Q&As with the people involved in making the film. There will be opportunities for live chats and other programming that will take place throughout the festival. Best of all, the film programs will be available to watch anytime during the festival — from anywhere in the United States and Canada — on any streaming device.

Thursday, November 19 through Thursday, December 3
Details