Better Cities Film Festival is the world’s premiere film festival about cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
It is a festival of stories about places - about how places shape our lives, and about how we can make our cities, towns and neighborhoods better places for everyone to live, work and play.
We honor the top films with awards, and screen those films to a vast audience around the world through our flagship event (a four-day film festival in Detroit, Michigan), and through satellite screening events in a growing number of host cities across the world (from small towns like Laredo and Oxnard, to international hotspots like Shen Zen and Milan).
UNITED NATIONS SCREENINGS
Beginning in 2020, we formed a unique partnership with the United Nations to create the UN-HABITAT BETTER CITIES FILM FESTIVAL, which brought the festival to Abu Dhabi, UAE for the Tenth Session of the World Urban Forum, the largest international conference on cities. Our partnership with UN-HABITAT will extend to bring the film festival to future global conferences and events in 2021 and 2022.
VIRTUAL SCREENING SERIES
Adapting to the pandemic and restrictions on theaters, we have partnered with Proud Places (www.proudplaces.com) to create an online monthly virtual film screening series, which will bring our films to a growing audience of highly engaged civic-minded people across the country throughout 2021.
ALL GENRES WELCOME
We accept films of any length and genre, that in some way relate to our theme. Past films have included stories relating to: architecture, bicycling, beekeeping, community life, street art & public art, main street, historic preservation, civic history, urban gardening, urban design, tactical urbanism, placemaking, sociology, economic development, environment, sustainability, ecology, transportation, mass transit, walkability, gentrification, housing, new urbanism, trains, subways, buses, stadiums, police stations, postal routes, parks, waterfront, rivers, murals, technology, innovation, racial equity and more.
JUDGES
Our roster of judges features influential thought leaders in urban design, architecture and film. Visit our official website to learn more.
ENGAGED AUDIENCES
Better Cities Film Festival attracts a highly-engaged niche audience of filmmakers, artists, activists, architects, authors, bicycle advocates, city lovers, community leaders, historians, journalists, ministers, mayors, politicians, urban planners, and everyday engaged citizens eager to improve their community.
FESTIVAL HISTORY
Originally founded as the New Urbanism Film Festival in Hollywood in 2013, we announced our new name Better Cities Film Festival in 2019 and relocated the flagship event to Detroit. In 2020, we adapted to the pandemic with an online virtual festival, screening over 80 films from 26 countries during October.
2021 FLAGSHIP FESTIVAL: DETROIT
In 2021, pending an end to pandemic restrictions, we plan to re-establish our live, in-person flagship festival in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Detroit is the poster child of urban revitalization, and living laboratory civic innovation and reinvention. Our 2021 Detroit festival will combine film screenings with tours, tactical urbanism, happy hour film discussions, and creative placemaking events throughout the Motor City, culminating with an awards ceremony to honor the winning films and filmmakers.
Contacts
