23/03/2023 - The Barcelona Film Festival, which opens this Thursday and will close with 20,000 Species of Bees by Estíbaliz Urresola, will screen 115 films, with tributes to Céline Sciamma and Joanna Hogg

The 13th D'A Barcelona Film Festival will be held from 23 March-2 April, bringing the best independent and auteur cinema to Barcelona. 115 films will be presented, ten of which are world premieres. The opening will screen the French romantic comedy Diary of a Fleeting Affair [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Mouret
film profile], directed by Emmanuel Mouret (Love Affair(s) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Mouret
film profile]), while the Spanish drama 20,000 Species of Bees [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Estíbaliz Urresola
film profile], by Estíbaliz Urresola, a huge success recently in Malaga (read here), will be the closing film.

Talents is the section dedicated to filmmakers with a maximum of two feature films, which this year will present fourteen film, including this year’s indie sensation in the UK, Blue Jean [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Georgia Oakley
film profile] by Georgia Oakley; La jauría [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Andrés Ramírez Pulido, a Colombian revelation that received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Critics’ Week; Plan 75 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Chie Hayakawa
film profile], by Japanese director Chie Hayakawa, Cannes Camera d'Or Special Mention award in 2022; Tommy Guns [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Conceição
film profile], by Angolan director Carlos Conceição, winner of the Locarno Award; Thunder [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carmen Jaquier
film profile], a stunning debut by Swiss director Carmen Jaquier; and Runner [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by American director Marian Mathias, winner of the Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian.

Completing this competitive section are the acclaimed Anhell69 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Theo Montoya
film profile], by Colombian director Theo Montoya; Under the Fig Trees [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erige Sehiri
film profile], by the French-Tunisian Erige Sehiri; Human Flowers of Flesh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Helena Wittmann
film profile], by German director Helena Wittmann; Metronom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandru Belc
film profile], by Romanian Alexandru Belc; Queens [+see also:
film review
film profile], by the Moroccan Yasmine Benkiran; Roleless, by the Japanese trio Hirase Kentaro/Masahiko Sato/Yutaro Seki; Stay Awake, by the North American director Jamie Sisley; and the world premiere of A Bright Sun [+see also:
film review
film profile], by five Catalan filmmakers who studied at Pompeu Fabra University.

Other world premieres, seen in other sections of the festival, include Spanish films: Néixer per néixer by Pablo García Pérez de Lara; Anhel de llum, by Alba Cros Pellisé; Has estado aquí, by Vivian Muñoz Rodríguez; Querida A., by Elena Molina; Ronda, by Marina Rodríguez Colás; Somorrostro en tres actes, by Marga Almirall Rotés; Cando toco un animal, by Ángel Filgueira; Dos dies i l'eternitat, by Marc Esquirol; and Las tierras del cielo, by Pablo García Canga.

This year’s D'A Prize, which recognises the careers of filmmakers committed to auteurship and independence will go to Céline Sciamma, creator of films such as Girlhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Sciamma
interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile], Tomboy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile], Petite maman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Portrait of a Lady on Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile]. Also, from France are Christophe Honoré's new film, Winter Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christophe Honoré
film profile], with Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lacoste and Paul Kircher; Forever Young [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
film profile], by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, starring Louis Garrel; and Saturn Bowling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Patricia Mazuy
film profile], by Patricia Mazuy, one of the ten best films of the year for Cahiers du Cinéma.

In addition, Bruni Tedeschi stars in The Line [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile] by Ursula Meier (Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile]); Mark Cousins presents another lesson in cinema with The March on Rome [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mark Cousins
film profile]; and Alexander Sokurov brings Fairytale [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], where the figures of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin meet at the gates of heaven. These titles join El maestro jardinero, by the North American Paul Schrader; Will-o'-the-Wisp [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile], a homoerotic fantasy by the Portuguese João Pedro Rodrigues; Tchaikovsky's Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a drama by Kirill Serebrennikov; and The Kegelstatt Trio [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by the Lisbon-born Rita Azevedo Gomes. Finally, Focus D'A 2023 will feature the English filmmaker Joanna Hogg, who will also be the subject of a retrospective and the premiere of her latest film: The Eternal Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)