ADFF:Toronto Day 3

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Subject: ADFF:Toronto Day 3

November 14, 2025

Last night we had four great screenings. Kensington Market, which tells the story of a Toronto neighborhood, was sold out. Today and tomorrow, we have 11 screenings and a FREE cinema trivia night about brutalist architecture. The trivia night is interactive—we encourage you to get rowdy for this one.

Several directors will be speaking after the screenings of their films. This includes Beck Carpenter, who will be answering questions about her powerful film The Space Architect. Trust us, you don't want to miss it. We'll also have Ben Wolf speaking on a panel after his film Changing Lanes. He'll be joined by experts in the field to discuss democracy, voting, and bike lanes—all current issues here in Toronto.

Check out our Friday and Saturday schedules and enjoy some photos from last night at the festival:

ADFF:Toronto Schedule | Friday, November 14

3 Screenings, 1 Q&A, 1 Special Event

5:50pm

The Space Architect

2025 / 40 min / US

Director: Rebecca Carpenter

The Space Architect introduces us to the trailblazing architect Constance Adams, whose work at NASA reimagined how humans might live in outer space. Filmed just four days before her death, The Space Architect captures Adams reflecting on her extraordinary career and her final, passionate focus towards Earth.

+ Q&A with Director Rebecca Carpenter

6:15pm

Building on the Edge

2025 / 73 min / US

Directors: Bruce Borowsky and Mike Scalisi

Few architects ever have the chance to design buildings for one of the most extreme environments on Earth—Antarctica. Building on the Edge tells the story of one such group of designers. When scientists at NOAA grew frustrated by the poor design quality available within strict government budgets, they took an unconventional leap: they invited the University of Colorado’s Master of Architecture Design/Build class to take on the challenge.

8:30pm

At the Garden's Pace

2024 / 70 min / Netherlands

Director: Juan Benavides

At the Garden’s Pace tracks a design-build process of a striking new modern pavilion within a botanical garden dedicated to conifers in the Dutch town of Hilversum. Under the watchful eyes of local residents, the architect-builders put on overalls and work shoes and navigate the year-long process. This hypnotic, deliberate film pulls you into the unhurried rhythm of the garden and rewards you for your attention.

8:45pm

The Big Brutal Quiz

Host: Joël León Danis

This first-of-its-kind ADFF event is a trivia night that dives into the dramatic intersection of brutalist design and film. From dystopian futures to sci-fi classics, no architectural style has cast a heavier shadow across cinema than brutalism. This interactive event challenges architects, designers, and film buffs to match legendary buildings with more than 20 on-screen appearances and vice versa.

ADFF:Toronto Schedule | Saturday, November 15

8 Screenings, 2 Q&As

1:00pm

We The Others

2024 / 55 min / Italy

Director: Francesca Molteni

Shot several years after Fernando Campana's passing, his brother Humberto leads audiences through the iconic duo's humble beginnings, their prolific creative journey, and their enduring commitment to social and environmental impact. With behind-the-scenes access, the documentary explores Parque Campana, their studio’s latest initiative—an architectural park that is a tribute to creativity rooted in community, craft, and nature.

+ Conversation with Industrial Designer Ranee Lee, O2 Planning and Design Principal Ute Maya-Giambattista, and Azure Senior Editor Eric Mutrie

This screening is co-presented by Gaggenau.

1:15pm

Tracing Light

2024 / 99 min / Germany

Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer

Renzo Piano once said, “Light is not just something that allows us to see. It is a material that gives form, emotion, and life to architecture.” Tracing Light invites us to contemplate this mysterious and fundamental force that shapes our world and our built environment. Visually striking and thought-provoking, this film expresses the language of architecture, sensation, and cinema itself.

3:15pm

Changing Lanes

2025 / 73 min / US

Director: Ben Wolf

After a beloved teacher is tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a grassroots movement emerges to transform a notoriously dangerous four-lane boulevard into a safer, two-lane street with protected bike lanes. As government support begins to waver, neighbors unite to challenge entrenched interests and fight for a safer Greenpoint.

+ Conversation with Toronto Transportation Planning Director Jacquelyn Hayward, Journalist John Lorinc, Bloor Annex BIA Communications Director Neiland Brissenden, and Director Ben Wolf

3:45pm

Miralles

2024 / 90 min / Spain

Director: Maria Mauti

Miralles is a visually striking journey into the life and work of Catalan architect Enric Miralles, whose brilliant mind was taken from the world too soon when he passed away just before his 50th birthday. The film revisits the legacy of a visionary who was only beginning to show the full scope of his genius.

6:00pm

Living in a Piece of Furniture – Gerrit Rietveld's Houses

2024 / 52 min / Netherlands

Director: Lex Reitsma

Known for his Red and Blue Chair and the groundbreaking Schröder House, architect Gerrit Rietveld believed that homes should function like living sculptures. Exploring several of Rietveld’s private residential projects through the experiences of their current residents, this film reveals how his design philosophy shaped not only the spaces themselves but the lives within them.

6:30pm

The Space Architect

2025 / 40 min / US

Director: Rebecca Carpenter

8:00pm

Lewerentz Divine Darkness

2024 / 70 min / Sweden

Director: Sven Blume

Sigurd Lewerentz did not seek fame. This film begins decades after the architect’s death, when an unexpected discovery in a root cellar cracks open the mystery of his work. A treasure trove of beautiful black and white film clips and audio recordings reveals fascinating moments between the architect and his friend Bernt Nyberg, guiding us through an unexpected journey into Lewerentz’s singular legacy.

Identita: Film o českém grafickém designu (2024) - TRAILER HD

8:15pm

Identity: A Czech Graphic Design Love Story

2024 / 84 min / Czech Republic

Directors: Kateřina Mikulcova and Petr Smelik

What does a country’s design aesthetic reveal about its identity? That’s the animating question behind Identity: A Czech Graphic Design Love Story, a documentary that pairs cultural inquiry with personal narrative. At its center is Nicholas Lowry, a charismatic Czech-American auctioneer and obsessive collector who returns to his ancestral homeland to investigate a design tradition, a national identity, and himself.

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Subject: ADFF:Toronto Day 3