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FESTIVALS Spain

A French twist for Barcelona’s 9th D'A Film Festival

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- The 9th edition of the Arthouse Film Festival kicks off today in Barcelona, and shining bright among the 114 movies being screened until 5 May is a retrospective dedicated to Christophe Honoré

A French twist for Barcelona’s 9th D'A Film Festival
Sorry Angel by Christophe Honoré

The Aribau, CCCB (Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture), Catalunya Film Library, SGAE (Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers) and Zumzeig cinemas are about to play host to the ninth edition of the D'A Film Festival, which starts unspooling in Barcelona today, 25 April, and will run until Sunday 5 May. Headed up with elan by Carlos R Ríos, the gathering comprises 114 titles, and among them we find a strong presence of French movies, as demonstrated by the retrospective dedicated to Christophe Honoré. Besides a plethora of his previous films, such as The Beautiful Person [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Love Songs [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, audiences will also be able to enjoy his latest effort, Sorry Angel [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Christophe Honoré
film profile
]
.

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Other French (co-)productions that will be showcased at D'A 2019 include the western The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
by Jacques Audiard, A Faithful Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Louis Garrel
film profile
]
by Louis Garrel (which will have the honour of opening the festival), Amanda [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mikhaël Hers
film profile
]
by Mikhaël HersFather and Sons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (the directorial debut by actor Félix Moati), Coincoin and the Extra Humans [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(the new series by Bruno Dumont), the whimsical Paul Sanchez Is Back! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Patricia Mazuy, Blonde Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maxime Matray, Alexia Walther
film profile
]
by Alexia Walther and Maxime Matray, Sophia Antipolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Vernier
film profile
]
by Virgil VernierKeep Going [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile
]
by Belgium’s Joachim Lafosse and the documentary Treasure Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Brac
film profile
]
by Guillaume Brac. Nor will there be any lack of fresh shenanigans from the likes of Brits Peter Strickland (In Fabric [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Strickland
film profile
]
) and Ben Wheatley (Happy New Year, Colin Burstead [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
), while extremely sensitive movies will come courtesy of Italy's Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (The Summer House [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
film profile
]
) and Portuguese director Rita Azevedo (The Portuguese Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rita Azevedo Gomes
film profile
]
).

D'A Barcelona will be topped off by a raft of other activities, such as the Professional Conferences, which will take an in-depth look at the labs and hubs that operate within festivals, and which will provide useful tools for project development, helping to strengthen, finance and internationalise film productions. In addition, there will be two workshops organised in conjunction with the ECAM (Film and Audiovisual School of the Community of Madrid), devoted to directing and sound. This particular institution will also hand out the OpenECAM Prize, which allows the winning director to use its facilities and technical equipment for the production or post-production of his or her next movie, thus giving a fresh new injection to the Un Impulso Colectivo (lit. “A Collective Push”) section. Another accolade handed out in this section is the Movistar Plus+ Award, which comprises the acquisition of the broadcasting rights for a total of €12,000. What’s more, the Talents Award for the best film in the aforementioned section is now endowed with €10,000, which will be bestowed upon its distributor.

Lastly, standing out among the Spanish indie gems that will be on show over the next few days in Barcelona are Ojos negros [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marta Lallana, Ivet Castelo
film profile
]
by Marta Lallana and Ivet Castelo; The Hidden City [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Víctor Moreno
film profile
]
, a captivating descent into the urban underworld, courtesy of Víctor Moreno; Karelia: International with Monument [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, a documentary by Andrés Duque; the project Quién lo impide [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonás Trueba
film profile
]
, helmed by Jonás Trueba; the short films Watermelon Juice by Irene Moray, starring Elena Martín, which took part in the most recent Berlinale, and Después también by Carla Simón; Cantares de una revolución [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Asturian director Ramón Lluís Bande, featuring traditional songs that have been reworked by Nacho Vegas; Wandering Star [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alberto Gracia
film profile
]
by Alberto Gracia; the experimental film Letters to Paul Morrissey [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Armand Rovira
film profile
]
by Armand Rovira; Love Me Not [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lluís Miñarro
film profile
]
by Lluís Miñarro; and The Days to Come [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Marques-Marcet
film profile
]
, the third movie by Carlos Marqués-Marcet, which – after picking up the Golden Biznaga at the most recent Málaga Film Festival – will bring the ninth Barcelona Arthouse Film Festival to a close in ten days’ time, after it has once again served as a platform for discovery for the most restless and discerning of audiences, allowing them to sample a fine array of unorthodox filmmakers who steer well clear of clichés.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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