Mid-century architect and designer Eliot Noyes built the design programs for some of America’s most powerful postwar corporations. The film weaves Noyes’ story with the broader context of corporate America’s embrace of Modernism during the period of postwar economic expansion and culminates in the backlash against Noyes and his generation during the countercultural upheaval of the Vietnam era. 

The life and work of Eliot Noyes is a vehicle to explore the intersection of postwar business, technology and design – a story that continues to resonate in the contemporary context.

Director: Jason Cohn
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Duration: 118 minutes

Curated in association with the Revelation Perth International Film Festival

The Fremantle Design Film Festival returns with six films that offer a thought-provoking exploration into the deep connection between design, society and culture.

Featuring documentaries expertly curated by screen practitioner Richard Sowada, the finely calibrated program unites around the Fremantle Design Week theme of transition and captures the people, places and ideas that shape our world through design.

Three films focus on the legacy of Modernism, charting the rise and fall of the most influential design movement of the last century and traversing time across India, the UK and the USA.

The pressing global issues of homelessness and displacement are explored in two deeply personal films, and we meet Maija Isola, the Danish designer behind Marrimekko’s most enduring patterns. 

FDW Film Festival presented by: