screenshot from video “The Palace” by Jory Thomas
Environmental Design students named winners of the 2025 ArchiShorts film contest
Four students from the Faculty of Architecture’s Environmental Design Program have been named winners in the 2025 ArchiShorts Film Contest —Karen Beatrice Servidad, Lealyn Carlos, Alyaa Kabbani, and Jory Thomas.
ArchiShorts is an open annual competition that celebrates the storytelling potential of architecture and place through short films, each just two minutes or less. This competition is part of the annual Architecture + Design Film Festival (A+DFF) in Winnipeg, which showcases critically acclaimed films on the importance of architecture and design in everyday life.
The awarded films were created in the third-year Environmental Design Landscape + Urbanism studio, led by Leanne Muir and Lawrence Bird. This studio, titled ‘City Dreaming: Imagining Density in Winnipeg’s Neighbourhoods,’ envisions established Winnipeg neighborhoods as pedestrian-focused communities that prioritize walking, cycling, public transportation, and the health and well-being of ecosystems, alongside increased housing density.
To learn more about the role of filmmaking in the studio and to see the full collection of films, visit https://www.citydreaming.ca/
“Reaching St. Boniface” by Karen Beatrice Servidad
Neighbourhood: Central St. Boniface
This film explored the role of bridges as part of the urban machinery that shaped the cultural landscape of Central Saint Boniface. It traced the history of river crossings, from the early ferry to the current Provencher Bridge and Esplanade Riel, highlighting their impact on the neighbourhood’s walkability and connection to downtown Winnipeg. The bridges act as physical extensions of the land, facilitating movement and interaction between the two halves of the city, and promoting cultural and economic exchange.
“The Shortcut” by Lealyn Carlos
Neighbourhood: Lord Roberts
Lord Roberts, a vibrant Winnipeg neighborhood, faces the pressures of development and the need to preserve its unique identity. The film “The Shortcut” aimed to show how a quiet neighborhood has changed over the years, evolving in a sense from the ruins of its industrial history of streetcars, which opened up the community to development over a century ago, to its present car-dominated environment. “The Shortcut” is not just about traffic problems; it’s a reminder of the importance of mindful urban planning to prevent neighborhoods from being overwhelmed by unexpected consequences of unchecked growth.
“Eutopos” by Alyaa Kabbani
Neighbourhood: Elmwood
“Eutopos” was inspired by conversations with long-time residents. The departure of residents and the influx of new renters have disrupted a close-knit social fabric. The film intends to reflect on the changing demographics of the neighbourhood and, by implication, the challenges to its once strong sense of community. As homes become commodities, they are often marketed as some kind of pristine utopian space, eerily absent of signs of the people who once lived there. Change is inevitable in urban life, but the film reflects on what is lost through this process.
“The Palace” by Jory Thomas
Neighbourhood: William Whyte
Thomas’s film focuses on the Palace Theatre, an abandoned building in William Whyte, as an emblem of the neighbourhood’s decline. The Palace is a modern ruin, one of many seen across the neighborhood of William Whyte. Despite being a gateway into Winnipeg’s rich history, the only ones left to care for the building are the pigeons. Pigeons, a species once cared for and domesticated by humans, have now been abandoned and left to fend for themselves. The same can be said for The Palace Theatre, which now serves as a reminder of how crowds of theatre-goers have been replaced by crowds of pigeons.
The student films were first screened at Nuit Blanche Winnipeg in September 2024, in partnership with Storefront MB and the UM Community Design & Planning Centre.