Now playing at the Angelika, ‘Ada: My Mother the Architect’ tells the story of influential Israeli architect Ada Karmi-Melamede

Ada: My Mother the Architect is a new documentary that just premiered at the Angelika Film Center in downtown Manhattan, focusing on one of the most influential yet underrecognized figures in architecture: Adam Karmi-Melamede.

The film is directed by the subject’s own daughter, Academy Award-winning producer Yael Melamede, a fact that adds personal resonance to the project.

Although Karmi-Melamede is the pioneer behind plenty of Israeli landmarks—including the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, Ben Gurion Airport and the Open University of Israel—her name remains largely unfamiliar outside of architectural circles. The documentary hopes to change that while also offering an accurate portrayal of Karmi-Melamede as a person to the masses.

Among the many topics explored in the film, expect the figure to discuss the 15 formative years she spent in New York. There, she juggled an ambitious career in architecture with teaching and motherhood. As a faculty member at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, she contributed to visionary urban initiatives, including a master plan for Con Edison, a study for mixed-use development along the proposed Second Avenue Subway and a 1978 housing competition on Roosevelt Island.

But after being denied tenure in the early 1980s, Karmi-Melamede made the decision to leave New York—and her family—to continue her career in Israel. While her professional trajectory soared, her personal sacrifices underscored the complex intersection of ambition, gender and family. Through her daughter’s lens, the film becomes not only a record of a trailblazing career, but also an exploration of the often invisible cost of success for women.

Combining archival footage, architectural imagery and intimate conversations between mother and daughter, Ada: My Mother the Architect is both a compelling documentary and a meditation on legacy, identity and the structures we build—both literal and emotional.