This year, the theme of our week-long film festival that celebrates cities and civic engagement is The City That Holds Us.

We invite you to imagine the city as generous instead of extractive
a frame that helps us better address staggering income inequality, decades-long housing crisis, devastating climate change, and inhumane violence against people of color.

We reframe the city as reciprocal
we as inhabitants contribute to it, and it takes care of us by providing outlets for artistic expression, a stage for organizing political movements, places to build community through team sports, and inspiration for stories of human resilience.

We believe in public policies and urban planning practices prioritizing human connection
instead of the current focus on efficiency and adding economic value.