The Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF), ready for its South Asia debut, from January 10 - 12, 2025, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai, India, will play host to various interactive programmes in addition to more than 25 film screenings. The extensive programme planned for the architecture festival in Mumbai is anchored around cinema, culture, design, spaces, infrastructures and politics, all designed to inspire creative surge amongst the audience and to engage, educate and entertain the attendees.

The film festival first originated in New York, USA, and has had an enviably brilliant run of over 16 years. Continuing this brilliant track, ADFF:STIR Mumbai encompasses, in addition to film screenings, a variety of events such as book readings, crits, performances, workshops, a vibrant Pavilion Park hosting a series of site-specific architectural pavilions conceived by renowned designers and architects and a dynamic talks programme.

The ~log(ue) programme is imaginatively designed by STIR to disengage from the canonical acts of extolling creative interventions and instead, examine them from an interdisciplinary and critical perspective. ~log(ue) is curated to foster engagement and encourage questioning. With the ~log(ue) schedule split across three days, STIR attempts to bridge people (log/ लोग) and discourse (~logues) through dynamic encounters amongst top creatives from the worlds of architecture, design, film, theatre and culture.

The curation employs experimental formats such as ~monolog(ue) for independent performative deliveries; ~dialog(ue)s for platforming two intersecting positions on a pre-decided topic; ~multilog(ue)s for discussions amongst panellists in response to overarching—often critical—prompts; and ~metalog(ue)s for dynamic discussions on contextually relevant subjects. ~epilog(ue)s and ~prolog(ue)s include curated performances and presentations after and before the showcase of films, respectively, and ~analog(ue) sessions serve as interactive stopovers around installations in the JSW Pavilion Park, as workshops, readings, walkthroughs, music performances and more.

STIR delineates the specifics of the discourses and interactions curated for the three-day ~log(ue) programme.

Day 1: Building the tempo for a cinematic experience in Mumbai

~log(ue) will start with the opening talk, a ~metalog(ue) session, Cultural Renaissance: Reimagining the City Through Design and Creative Tourism, at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre (JBT). Acknowledging the cinematic capital of India, at the southern tip of which ADFF:STIR Mumbai is set to take place, the opening talk will ensue against the backdrop of an understanding that the city’s cultural spaces are at the forefront of a transformative renaissance. Its identity is shaped by the fusion of Mumbai's rich heritage and its modern designs, interventions and creative ideas. The talk at JBT will acknowledge the divergent players responsible for defining the socio-cultural landscape of the city, whilst also exploring fresh approaches to urban cultural development that are rooted in history and contemporaneity. Scheduled to take place at 11:30 AM on January 10, 2024, the talk will be moderated by Asad Lalljee (SVP of the Essar Group, CEO of Avid Learning and Curator at Royal Opera House, Mumbai). Speakers include Martino Stierli (Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, Museum of Modern Art, New York), Radha Goenka (Director, RPG Foundation) and Amit Gupta (Founder and Editor-in-Chief, STIR).

Other talks programme on Day 1 include a ~multilog(ue) session Architecture and Cinema: The Extraordinary Everyday and the Cinemato-Architectural Artefact, a ~dialog(ue) namely Culture as/of Care: Nurturing Humanity and the Planet through Trends, Transitions and Traditions and a ~monolog(ue) called Screening the Future: A Tussle between Memory and Imagination at 3:15 PM, 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM respectively.

Architecture and Cinema: The Extraordinary Everyday and the Cinemato-Architectural Artefact, to be moderated within Experimental Theatre by Bhawna Jaimini (architect, writer and researcher), will seek to examine public spaces as seen through the cinematic lens, with a panel including Sameep Padora (Founder, Sameep Padora and Associates, and Dean, CEPT University), Megha Ramaswamy (screenwriter and director) and Kyle Bergman (Founder, ADFF). “Marking both a return to fundamentals and a departure point for discourse intertwining quintessential creative acts and their multimodal representation, this talk serves as a springboard to every talking point at ~log(ue),” reads STIR’s curatorial note for the talk.

Culture as/of Care: Nurturing Humanity and the Planet through Trends, Transitions and Traditions, to take place within Little Theatre, aims to ruminate upon and rethink the transformative power of culture in driving and influencing the forces of empathy, compassion, sustainability and modes of nurturing all sentient beings, with Tess Joseph (casting director) and Gaurav Ogale (visual artist and creative consultant). STIR’s curatorial note for the ~dialogue outlines, “The word ‘culture’ comes from the Latin cultus, which means ‘care’, and from the French colere which means ‘to cultivate’ as in ‘till the ground’. If we started to see culture from the perspective of care and responsibility toward our contemporary concerns - a convergence of disciplines crafted as an agent of change-making, what would we do and what would be the changes that we create?”

Screening the Future: A Tussle between Memory and Imagination, a ~monolog(ue) by Danish Husain (storyteller, poet and director), at Experimental Theatre, backtracks to the subject of cinema. The discourse will examine the modes of remembering and forgetting and the way we channel our memories into imaginative lores. Husain will draw upon his own artistic practice and ponder upon the process of translating and condensing fragmental memories and thoughts into cinematic narratives.

Preceding the presentation of Perception (2019), Arjun Bahl (Co-Founder, St+art India Foundation) will deliver a ~prolog(ue), a short tribute to Hanif Kureshi, who passed away in September 2024 leaving behind an enviable legacy in the Indian street art scene.

Some ~epilog(ue)s scheduled for Day 1 of the festival include the performance of Choke by Aashna Gupta after the screening of Green Over Gray: Emilio Ambasz (2004); a talk by Nathaniel Kahn (filmmaker) and Brinda Somaya (architect and urban conservationist) after the showcase of the former’s film My Architect: A Son’s Journey (2003); a discussion between Akshat Bhatt (Founder, Architecture Discipline) and Tanya Khanna (Founder, Epistle Communications) following the showcase of Schindler Space Architect (2024); and a talk by Sumant Jayakrishnan (lighing designer) after The Happy Film (2016).

Day 2: Theorising for the future

Carrying forward the critical interdisciplinary discourse from Day 1, are four events: Sustainable Fashion: Reality versus Rhetoric at JBT, Waymarkers and Waystations in the City at Little Theatre, Making a Montage: Impossible Places at JBT and Art Activism: Ruse, Respite or Resilience? at Little Theatre.

Sustainable Fashion: Reality versus Rhetoric, scheduled for 1:30 PM, aims to draw focus towards sustainable fashion and explore the disparity between virtual activism and the ground reality of undertaking less intensive production and consumption techniques within the fashion industry. With Mevin Murden (Director Of Education at Istituto Marangoni Mumbai) and Sanjay Garg (Founder, Raw Mango) in attendance, and Kamna Malik (design curator, brand strategist and Founder, Krsp) moderating the ~multilog(ue), this talk will address complexities that come up when attempting to tangibly apply theoretical frameworks pertaining to sustainable fashion. The participants will also discuss the harmful role of greenwashing and effective strategies for delivering meaningful changes within the fashion industry.

Ranjit Hoskote (poet, art critic, cultural theorist and independent curator) and Kaiwan Mehta (academic, author, architecture theorist, critic and Dean, Balwant Sheth School of Architecture) will deliver their ~monolog(ue)s 'Waymarkers and Waystations in the City' at 3:45 PM. Hoskote and Mehta will indulge the audience in a 30-minute reading session from their books, Alice in Bhuleshwar: Navigating a Mumbai Neighbourhood (2009) and Icelight (2023), Jonahwhale (2018) and Hunchprose (2021) respectively, followed by a brief Q&A session.

Making a Montage: Impossible Places, scheduled to take place at 5:00 PM, is a ~dialog(ue) between Martino Stierli and Dayanita Singh (photographer), and moderated by Cleo Roberts-Komireddi (Consulting Editor - Arts, STIR). Referencing Stierli’s vivid description of architectural photographer Hélène Binet’s work in his essay Positioning Binet, “[...] oscillates between two obsessions: a desire to translate spatial phenomena into two-dimensional images and a quest to articulate the modulation of light on a surface [...],” the ADFF:STIR discourse is curated to examine the visceral aspects of photography with the exploration of spaces in transition via captured mediums—people, light, material and patinas.

Art Activism: Ruse, Respite or Resilience? is scheduled to take place at 6:30 PM, at Little Theatre, with Rohit Chawla (photographer) and Swati Bhattacharya (Chief Creative Officer, FCB India). The talk will bring forth the potential of art and advertising in communicating pertinent social messages and driving change for better and more inclusive futures.

An ~epilog(ue) session by Shimul Javeri Kadri (Founder, SJK Architects) will take place after the presentation of the film E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea (2024). Some ~analog(ue) sessions preordained for January 11, 2025, includes a music performance by Sumher Panjabi; a walkthrough of the exhibition Photo Lies at Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF) with Dayanita Singh; performances by Mukta Nagpal and Ashish Rao; an open discussion on public space and image making practices; a talk by Jim Stephenson (architectural photographer) and a workshop by him and Simon James (sound artist and composer) at the JSW Pavilion Park.

Day 3: Expanding and redefining norms, processes and borders

Day 3 addresses a series of politically charged, future-oriented and critical subjects. From Architecture and the Apocalypse: Aptitude, Attitude and Practice at Experimental Theatre to Occupy! Making Space of/for/by the Subaltern at Little Theatre and Design Without Borders at Experimental Theatre, discourses on Day 3 revolve around discussions on power structures within the creative community, the potential of collaborative measures in driving positive change for the future, the socio-political impact of design and art, activism within the industry and via art and design, the tangible and intangible impact of subversive interventions and more.

Architecture and the Apocalypse: Aptitude, Attitude and Practice, a ~multilog(ue) discussion at 11:30 AM, will bring together Vishal K Dar (artist), Samira Rathod (Founder, Samira Rathod Design Atelier), Nuru Karim (Founder, Nudes) and Dar Gai (director and screenwriter). Moderated by Anmol Ahuja (Features Editor, STIR), the interdisciplinary discourse seeks to examine collaborative measures and processes that can help deal with the extant issues of climate change, war, pandemics, humanitarian crises and social and political unrest. Further, it seeks to establish the positionality and image of architecture and design within inundating imaginations about the future.

Next on the schedule is the ~multilog(ue) session Occupy! Making Space of/for/by the Subaltern at 1:30 PM. The event will be moderated by Ranjana Dave (Managing Editor - Arts, STIR) and witness the attendance of Aravani Art Project (represented by Poornima Sukumar and Karnika Bai), Siddhesh Gautam (mixed-media artist and designer, pseudonymously known as Bakery Prasad), Priya Dali (Creative Director, Gaysi Family) and Sudheer Rajbhar (Founder, Chamar Studio). The discourse will revolve around the question of making space, holding space and reclaiming spaces that have historically and traditionally excluded individuals from certain social, economic, religious and gendered rungs.

Lastly, Design without Borders, a ~multilog(ue) scheduled to take place at 3:00 PM, will be moderated by Samta Nadeem (Curatorial Director, STIR) and with the participation of Tarini Jindal Handa (Managing Director, JSW Realty), Meneesha Kellay (Senior Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum), Bruce Guthrie (Head of Theatre & Film, NCPA) and Pavitra Rajaram (Design Director, Asian Paints). The panel will examine various global influences that have shaped contemporary design practices and ruminate upon the impact that historical systems and traditions have on perceived and hidden aesthetics globally.

Some ~epilog(ue)s scheduled for the day include a talk by Malaika Vaz (television presenter and wildlife filmmaker) following the showcase of Biocentrics (2022); a dialogic performance by Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra (of multidisciplinary studio Thukral & Tagra) after the presentation of Kristoffer Hegnsvad’s Soviet Bus Stops (2023); Pinakin Patel’s (Founder, Pinakin Studio) recital after Charlotte Perriand, Pioneer in the Art of Living (2019); and an afterword by Avijit Mukul Kishore (filmmaker, cinematographer, curator and film-teacher) and Rohan Shivkumar (architect, filmmaker and teacher) following the showcase of their film Lovely Villa (2019).

The last day of the event will also witness various ~analog(ue) sessions such as the Aamchi Mumbai card game dedicated to confessing the attendees' love for Mumbai city, a Juhu Reads session within the There is no Planet B installation and a performance by Mukta Nagpal and Ashish Rao within the Pavilion Park.

The concluding talk of ~log(ue), entitled Culture is Ordinary, will take place at JBT at 6:30 PM. Referencing Welsh writer, academic, novelist and critic Raymond Williams’s Culture is Ordinary (1958), this concluding ~multilog(ue) is designed to argue against the notion that culture belongs to and is shaped exclusively by the elite. Instead, it seeks to shine a light on the communal everyday interactions, habits, systems and social and historical contexts that shape culture. The discourse, moderated by Bakul Patki (curator, creative producer and writer) and panelled by Hansal Mehta (filmmaker) and Amit Gupta, will revolve around the exploration of public festivals contributing towards the cultural capital in South Asia.  

For more information, visit the ADFF:STIR Mumbai website for key highlights of the festival, including the 20+ films, 10 cinematic pavilions, special projects the ~log(ue) programme, media and press coverage and more. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026.