Columbus: A Guide to the Film & Locations

About Columbus, the Acclaimed Film by Writer-Director Kogonada

Starring John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson, with Parker Posey, Michelle Forbes, and Rory Culkin, Columbus is an intimate, visually stunning film set against the backdrop of Columbus, Indiana’s world-renowned architecture. The movie captures the city’s quiet beauty and modernist landmarks while telling a deeply human story of connection, place, and discovery.

Columbus was filmed on location in Columbus, Indiana, in 2016, with a relatively short production schedule typical of independent films. The filmmakers made extensive use of real locations throughout the city, allowing its renowned modern architecture to serve as both setting and subject.

Production faced its share of challenges, including frequent rainfall during filming, which required flexibility from the crew, but also contributed to the film’s soft, atmospheric look. According to interviews with the director, the team embraced natural light and quiet, observational camerawork to reflect the tone of the story.

Writer-director Kogonada chose Columbus very intentionally. In multiple interviews, he has explained that his background as a film essayist, particularly his focus on visual composition and architecture. inspired him to seek out a location where the built environment could play a central role.

Columbus, known internationally for its collection of modernist buildings, offered a unique opportunity to explore how physical spaces influence human relationships. As Kogonada told Filmmaker Magazine, he wanted a place “where architecture could be a character.”

Casting was equally thoughtful. John Cho was selected for the lead role in part because of his ability to convey restraint and introspection, marking a departure from many of his previous roles.

Haley Lu Richardson, then an emerging actor, was cast for her naturalistic performance style, which aligned with the film’s quiet tone.

Supporting performances from Parker Posey, Michelle Forbes, and Rory Culkin further grounded the story, contributing to the film’s understated and contemplative atmosphere.

Movie trailer for COLUMBUS (2:05)

Filming Locations

REVIEWS AND ARTICLES about the Columbus movie

NPR, Linda Holmes: 50 Wonderful Things From 2017

“You may never have seen a movie as obsessed with architecture as the quiet and unassuming Columbus, in which John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson build a bond that exists both literally and figuratively in the shadows of the great modern buildings of Columbus, Indiana.”

Screen Daily, Jonathan Romney, who chose COLUMBUS as his number one film of 2017: Films of the Year 2017

“Not a movie that makes much noise, but the one that most got under my skin. Set in an Indiana town blessed with an unusual amount of innovative architecture, Columbus is about people, their relationships and the way their souls are fed by the buildings around them. With terrific performances by Parker Posey, John Cho, and face-to-watch Haley Lu Richardson, it is a film that is not just for the heart and mind, but about the heart and mind.”

More Press

The LA Times

“And now for something completely different, a pleasantly eccentric film that’s the feature debut of visual artist Kogonada. Set in ‘the Athens of the Prairie,’ Columbus, Ind., the unlikely site of a trove of modern architecture, its impeccably composed shots of stunning buildings are as much of a lure as its deliberately paced story.”

Variety.com

“Those who appreciate ‘Columbus’ will likely take it to heart. The relationships between each of the characters are imbued with warmth and humanity, and the filmmaking — like the city’s structures designed by the likes of Eero Saarinen and I.M. Pei — is simply gorgeous.”

RogerEbert.com

“Kogonada’s work never feels overly stylized. He is merely finding the best angles on his backdrops, like a painter finding the best size canvas for what he wants to convey. It reminds one how few filmmakers even consider the canvas… Columbus is a remarkable film.”

From The 20 Best Films of Sundance 2017 – see the original at Paste magazine

“Imagine an American-indie remake of an Apichatpong Weerasethakul film, and you’ll get part of the way to picturing what filmmaker Kogonada has accomplished with his feature debut . . . that description might make Columbus sound ponderous, but this light drama has a soft center as Jin and Casey try to figure out themselves.” —Tim Grierson

From The 25 Best Movie Moments of 2017, According to IndieWire Critic David Ehrlich

Set entirely in the overcast city of Columbus, Indiana, a small town that’s renowned as an unexpected mecca of modernist architecture, “Columbus” unfolds like a remake of “Garden State” as directed by Yasujirō Ozu…the film reflects what we have through the lens of what we’ve lost. We’re all surrounded by wonder, but few of us have the power to see it for ourselves.

Filmdaze

“Watching the film myself, my sense of space changes: a dreamlike calm washes over me as the stillness of this small town stops the movement of New York City, if only for a few hours…I revisit this film often. For me, it serves as a gentle reminder of how to slow down and take time to look closely at your surroundings…”

John Cho talks about the movie (4:21)

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