13th BUDAPEST ARCHITECTURE FILM DAYS | GREETINGS 

Dear festival guest, architecture/film/city lover,

2020 has turned the world upside down completely. Our 12th festival edition, held in early March 2020, was the last major cultural event in Budapest, and none of our films could have predicted what happened after that. The world closed off, services shut down and, as hospitals slowly filled with patients, we were trapped inside four walls (and in front of our screens).

The pandemic drew even sharper attention to a number of phenomena that we regularly address at the Budapest Architecture Film Days. Unbridled urbanization and the destruction of natural habitats mean unprecedented consequences for all of us. Rising unemployment and expiring moratoriums have put many families at the risk of eviction. Tourism-dependent cities are facing serious economic challenges. Inequalities between wealthier and poorer neighborhoods are now more pronounced than before, increasingly isolating not only groups with different social statuses, but also different generations.

At the same time, the lockdowns also accelerated a number of long-awaited positive social transformations that our audiences have already encountered in our films. Urban green spaces and green technologies have become more valuable; air quality has improved in many cities as a result of curfews and less travel. City leaders, often in defiance of their own governments, have introduced a range of sustainable transport solutions and democratic decision-making processes.

Solidarity networks matured in social movements have greatly contributed to the survival of the pandemic: cohesive neighborhood communities, charitable food distribution and other supportive actions have helped the most vulnerable groups to survive the crisis.

In past festival editions, we have shown an accurate picture of the most important problems and opportunities of architecture and the transformation of the city. The motto of the 13th Budapest Architecure Film Days is RECONNECT. Its main themes are restarting and reconnection: reuniting the individual with the community, empathy for others, solidarity, a more conscious and sensible relationship with nature, traveling without emission, and sustainable development, among others. The showcased films raise questions, argue, delve into problems, urge you to take a stand while, as an ensemble, they make it clear the challenges we face today do not exist on their own but are closely intertwined.

Do you live in a building? Do you like movies? Travel with us while staying in your comfy chair to San Francisco, Copenhagen, Havana, London, Marseille, Dubai, and many other locations.