BEST OF FEST
Screen our “Best of Fest” reel – featuring the most acclaimed and award-winning short films from Better Cities Film Festival. Our most turnkey and affordable option.
Now you can select from three Best of Fest reels:
the 2023-2024 Season, the 2022-2023 Season, or the 2021-2022 Season.
View the three playlist options below.
Includes:
• Digital file with complete Best of Fest reel - ready to play.
• BETTER CITIES FILM FESTIVAL digital poster ready to print - just add your local event info (day, time, venue).
BEST OF FEST PLAYLISTS
2023-24 Playlist
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 77 MINUTES
They Came From All Over
Duration
14:30
Synopsis
They Came from All Over highlights the important role small businesses play within their local communities. A love letter to small businesses everywhere, the film follows grocery store owner, Tom Mulholland, as he confronts the possibility of losing his family business and the impact it can have on his small Iowa town.
Directed by
Rayka Zehtabchi
BCFF AWARD
Grand Prize Best of Fest and Best Short Film 2023
River City Rising
Duration
9:00
Synopsis
A civic story of Spokane, Washington. Facing one of the worst housing crisis of anywhere in the nation, Spokane developed a Housing for All initiative that is inspired and rooted in it’s own history.
Directed by
John Paget
We Are Shellharbour: Cookie
Duration
7:00
Synopsis
Commissioned as the community was emerging from the Covid 19 pandemic, We Are Shellharbour is a series of five stories that speak to what we all have in common when facing adversity and challenge. This episode, entitled Cookie is a poignant story of neighbors and community.
Directed by
Phillip Crawford
BCFF AWARD
Best Online Series 2023
Jack’s Solar Garden
Duration
4:00
Synopsis
Agrivoltaics is the combination of solar and agriculture. By utilizing the land while capturing solar energy - this model offers land developers and farmers a win-win scenario. The film features Jack's Solar Garden - the largest commercial research site using agrivoltaics in the US. It describes the agrivolatics model and the research being done at Jacks to further improve this method.
Directed by
Chad Weber
BCFF AWARD
Better Technology & Innovation Award 2023
Thoughts on Reimagining Urban Sites: An Architect's Reflections
Duration
4:44
Synopsis
Stanton Eckstut, a pioneering architect who has designed iconic public spaces in cities across the United States, discusses the principles that have guided his work. In this film, Eckstut offers ideas about how to redevelop large urban sites with an emphasis on the public realm, while walking the grounds of The Wharf, a large-scale development he designed in Washington, D.C. Eckstut's reputation as an innovator and leader in large-scale architecture was forged more than 30 years when he worked on the master plan for New York's Battery Park City. His work has since focused on strengthening the urban fabric of cities nationwide by creating new centers of social and civic activity. As Eckstut has said, “even my smallest buildings are about being part of a larger community.” "Thoughts on Reimagining Urban Sites" was produced as an educational tool for the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, a nationally recognized nonprofit focused on historic preservation.
Directed by
Daniel Lovering
BCFF AWARD
Better Planning & Design Award 2023
Tiny Victories 2.0: A Tale of Empathy
Duration
8:20
Synopsis
Tiny Victories 2.0. A Tale of Empathy tells the story of Chioco Design's team journey when building a micro home for an individual who has struggled with chronic and sustained homelessness. How organizations like AIA Design Voice and Mobile Loaves & Fishes works timely to offer hope for the community. The word "empathy" serves as a prompt in the development, and execution, but mostly the idea of leaving behind preconceptions of what it is like to live without a home.
Directed by
Gustavo Bernal
BCFF AWARD
Emerging Ideas Award 2023
Building Opportunities | Bridging Communities
Duration
6:55
Synopsis
In the 1980s, the Parklands community of Washington, DC was devastated due the lack of civic resources and the rise of crime. In response, real estate developer WC Smith set out to create THEARC — Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Campus. THEARC is now the largest multi-sector non-profit collaboration in the country. Building Opportunities | Bridging Communities tells the origin story of THEARC and the impact it has had on residents of Parklands.
Directed by
Jon Michael Shink, Michael Skinner
BCFF AWARD
Better Economies for All Award 2023
Love Letters for the Subway
Duration
2:00
Synopsis
A love letter to the city, through hand-drawn, animated letters representing New York City's subway lines. The animations pull imagery from the neighborhoods that the trains move through, use common items in the subway as textures, and include found shapes in the architecture and sights experienced on a train ride.
Directed by
Mary Hawkins
BCFF AWARD
Best Animation 2023
The Place Man
Duration
19:00
Synopsis
The Place Man is a documentary that explores the roots of the placemaking movement through the life of Fred Kent, who has devoted his life to creating public spaces for people.
Directed by
Guillermo Bernal
BCFF AWARD
Hero Award 2023
2022-23 Playlist
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 85 MINUTES
Wetlands
Duration
0:14:46
Synopsis
MTF Labs director Andrew Dubber discovers the culture of Aveiro, a city under imminent threat of ocean rise due to climate change and undergoing the loss of cultural heritage and traditional industries.
Directed by
Andrew Dubber
BCFF AWARD
Better Communities Award 2022
Reimagining Freedom West
Duration
0:07:34
Synopsis
In the heart of today’s tech boom epicenter an historic Black community living in San Francisco’s largest co-op Freedom West Homes must fight to keep their housing amidst encroaching gentrification.
Directed by
Michelle Flowers-Taylor
BCFF AWARD
Better Transportation Award 2022
Ainsworth
Duration
0:03:39
Synopsis
Football is everything to Kam who has lived near the Ainsworth Estate pitch all his life. In 2013, with his good friend Hassan, Kam approached the Arsenal Foundation to resurface the pitch from concrete to astroturf. He is now a Coach to the local kids and this area represents so much more than just a playing field. It is the beating heart of the Estate. And football is the international language that binds the entire community together.
Directed by
Jim Stephenson
BCFF AWARD
Spirit of the Fest Award 2022
Greens For Good
Duration
0:11:11
Synopsis
Liverpool, England is a hardscrabble city built on industry, but in its gritty center a new garden is thriving. It’s called Farm Urban. Here, a visionary young team uses hydroponics to grow fresh greens and vegetables in a Victorian tunnel beneath the city. What’s more: they’re engaging with their community, providing hands-on education for local students, installing “edible walls” in office spaces and centers for people with neurological diseases, and even finding creative and sustainable ways to deliver “living food” to those who can afford it—and many more who can’t.
Directed by
Whitney Beer-Kerr
BCFF AWARD
Better Technology & Innovation 2022
East Quay
Duration
0:08:40
Synopsis
What happens when a group of people get together to build a centre for the community on a forgotten corner of the harbour?
Directed by
Jim Stephenson
BCFF AWARD
Special Selection - Best of Fest Reel 2022
Reimagining Albany’s Waterfront
Duration
0:13:38
Synopsis
Interstate 787 cuts off Albany's downtown from its riverfront. For decades, the effects of this urban planning mistake have hampered positive urban development for this historic city. Today, a community-driven effort seeks to reimagine Albany's waterfront.
Directed by
Daniel M Connolly, Derek Baranski
BCFF AWARD
Better Transportation Award 2022
The Square Deal Towns
Duration
0:10:00
Synopsis
The remarkable civic story of Binghamton, Endicott and Johnson City, New York. Once home to the largest shoe company in the world, and world headquarters of IBM, three small towns are rebuilding and revitalizing after decades of disinvestment and floods. A hopeful portrait of the resilience that stems from hometown pride and community love.
Directed by
John Paget
SPECIAL FEATURE
Presented by First+Main Films, producers of BCFF
Ropes in Brown Hands
Duration
0:16:05
Synopsis
In one of America's few remaining Freedmen's towns, a cowboy carries on the tradition of one of the nation's oldest African American rodeos. Focused on compelling characters and colorful history, this original documentary shows a little-known slice of the modern American frontier.
Directed by
Alexandra Leah Travis
BCFF AWARD
Grand Prize Best Short Film 2022
2021-22 Playlist
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 75 MINUTES
11th Street Bridge Park:
Leading with Equity
Duration
0:06:35
Synopsis
Urban development can lead to displacement. The 11th Street Bridge Park has worked with the Anacostia community to lay the groundwork for a different outcome. This short documentary shows how their equitable development plan has positively impacted the lives of D.C. residents.
Directed by
Michael Skinner & Jon Michael Shink
BCFF AWARD
Better Economies For All Award 2021
The Rural Studio
Duration
0:03:35
Synopsis
The Rural Studio profiles a new approach to architectural education that puts community at the center of design. Based in Newbern, Alabama the Rural Studio works with the diverse members of the community to find solutions through architecture. A compelling story with beautiful cinematography.
Directed by
Jeff Durkin
BCFF AWARD
Best Short Film 2021
Marmalade Lane
Duration
0:10:00
Synopsis
Marmalade Lane is the inspiring story of a remarkable housing development. The 42 houses and apartments are the result of a collaborative design process that involved the residents, developers (TOWN) and architects (Mole) working together to produce a new community, with individual homes centered around communal space and shared facilities. The result is the UK's largest co-housing development, with a shared sense of achievement and belonging.
Directed by
Jim Stephenson
BCFF AWARD
Best Housing Film 2021
Ballyfermot Play Park
Duration
0:04:51
Synopsis
Four years ago Ballyfermot Youth Services, the Irish Architecture Foundation and Dublin City Council initiated a collaboration which resulted in a BMX park to beat all BMX parks. Driven by a community-centered design process, the park was the vision of the local young bikers. Here they tell their story with pride - how they guided this project for years, presenting to the council and advising the designers (a London design team called Relational Urbanism). An incredible journey of passion, design and community.
Directed by
Bonnie Dempsey
BCFF AWARD
Better Planning and Design Award 2021
Biking While Black
Duration
0:09:31
Synopsis
Riding a bike on the busy streets of Los Angeles can be dangerous for Black cyclists—it means risking traffic violence and racial profiling while commuting to work or biking for fun. Biking While Black explores safety and equity for Black cyclists through conversations with Los Angeles residents, grassroots advocates, and city leaders.
Directed by
Yolanda Davis-Overstreet
BCFF AWARD
Best Bicycle Film 2021
Langa Bicycle Hub
Duration
0:08:30
Synopsis
The Langa Bicycle Hub in Cape Town, South Africa offers a range of bike-related services including helping people learn how to ride, collecting old damaged bicycle materials, and building bicycles suitable for gravel and flooded roads in informal settlements. This hub will also be a home to fix wheelchairs and to enable vulnerable and disabled people in informal settlements to use bicycles too.
Directed by
Rashiq Fataar, Matthew Griffiths
BCFF AWARD
Best Webseries Award & Better Transportation Award 2021
Precollinear Park. A Placemaking Experience.
Duration
0:09:05
Synopsis
An amazing story of how a community transformed a dismissed tramway line terminus, and its 500-meter of tracks, into a temporary public park.
Directed by
Umberto Sala
BCFF AWARD
Best Tactical Urbanism Film Award 2021
Small Town Spirit: Tenino, WA
Duration
0:05:00
Synopsis
A small rural town in Washington State was the source of many of the most noble, stately buildings on the West Coast.
Today, Tenino is fighting the battle to survive and reinvent. When the Covid pandemic hits, the community finds a way forward, by looking to their past. They revive the tradition of the Tenino wooden dollar: more than a novelty, it functions as a Covid relief fund and an incentive to buy local and keep money from leaving the community.
Directed by
John Paget
SPECIAL FEATURE
Presented by First+Main Films, producers of BCFF
Urban Resilience (Toronto)
Duration
0:16:16
Synopsis
If you could make a difference in your city, would you? The documentary series, Urban Resilience, doesn't only challenge viewers to think differently about their city but empowers viewers to raise questions on how to make and create a more sustainable future for future generations to come. Urban Resilience explores themes related to the economy, environment, food insecurity and social justice which challenges viewers to make the world a more fair and sustainable place while becoming a part of the solution. Features interviews with planners, policymakers, community builders, and thinkers who are making positive changes day-in and day-out. Urban Resilience not only showcases the spirits championing the future of our cities, but also the ways in which we can help to keep the spirit of resilient cities flourishing for years to come.
Directed by
Chrystelle Maechler, Andreas Krätschmer
BCFF AWARD
Better Environment Award 2021