▶︎ organized by KÉK – Contemporary Architecture Centre

Dear Festival Guests, Enthusiasts of Architecture, Cities and Film,

Welcome to the 17th Budapest Architecture Film Festival!

In our badly polarized world, public discourses—whether in open forums or among friends—almost always focus on differences of opinion. While fiercely defending our positions, we slowly forget or do not even discuss things we agree on after all. We rarely ask: are there common, immovable core values ​​that unite us? Can these be solid foundations for our future? Let’s pause the debates and talk about this—this was the guideline during our selection process, and this is how the festival motto became: Common Grounds.

It’s crucial today when violence and demonstrations of power are increasingly the means of conflict management instead of dialogue and mutual understanding. Decades of cooperation and global alliances seem to fall apart due to instigators. In our world, shrunken by civilization and technology, cooperation between states is more important than ever. Only one supply chain stuck can cause famine and anarchy, and only one pollutant technique can affect the entire planet’s ecosystem. What happens in one country can have consequences on the other side of the world—just as only one resident of an apartment block can influence and destroy the life of an entire community.

At the global level, our shared problems are multiplying: social inequalities, housing crisis, climate change, demographic challenges, transforming cities and urban sprawl, the environmental burden of building materials and construction waste, the quality of air and water, and the livability of public spaces. All of these bring up complex questions that only cooperation, self-organizing communities, participatory planning and joint action can answer. Can the methods of coliving experimented in co-housing communities and self-organizing neighbourhoods be used to develop new, higher-level social cooperation systems?

This year’s films at the Budapest Architecture Film Festival seek the common ground necessary for this collaboration in this constantly changing, divided world. As the works represent, we all play a role in shaping the future.

We are grateful to the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK) for supporting us with its entire infrastructure and making it possible for the 2025 architecture film festival to come around without a major sponsor in Hungary.

Do you live in a building? Do you like movies? Cross borders, look around the world, get inspired and act!

Have a great time watching our films and engaging in inspirational conversations.

Love,

The Organizers of the Budapest Architecture Film Festival