Architecture film festivals are booming, as filmmakers turn their attention to the genre, new events launch, and audiences grow.
2017 has been a particularly standout year for film festivals dedicated to architecture, with new festivals opening in London and Melbourne, and already established ones adding more dates and cities to their programmes.
"I noticed that increase over a number of years," Kyle Bergman, founder of Architecture and Design Film Festival (ADFF) told Dezeen. "And now, since there's more and more festivals about it, there's more and more films actually being made on the subject, because there's a great audience for them."
Bergman already runs screenings in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, which this year included a documentary about Australian architect Glenn Murcutt and a movie set among the modernist gems of Columbus in Indiana. He will add Washington DC and San Diego to the ADFF festival roster for 2018. He said the popularity of architecture on film is "snowballing", with filmmakers being driven to produce by the demand for film festivals, and vice versa.
More festivals means more films, which means more festivals
ADFF started off in 2008. In addition to its solely architecture and design offerings, Bergman has also successfully lobbied larger film festivals such as the Chicago International Film Festival and Doc NYC to include sub-sections for architecture films.
"I think that really stems out of us showing, a...