09/11/2023 - The new edition of the Barcelona festival will feature new films by Aki Kaurismäki, Claire Simon and Lois Patiño and a retrospective dedicated to Tatiana Huezo

The 30th edition of L’Alternativa - Barcelona Independent Film Festival will take place from 10 to 19 November in different venues around the city. Over 30 years, the event has welcomed the work of filmmakers from all over the world, discovering and showcasing emerging talent and focusing on key filmmakers in the history of cinema through retrospectives and specialised sections. This new event, which will open with Fallen Leaves [+see also:
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This year's L'Alternativa International Feature Films Official Selection includes ten feature films from a range of independent viewpoints. Our Body [+see also:
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film profile], by veteran documentary filmmaker Claire Simon, presented at the Berlinale Forum, which takes us into the gynaecological department of a Parisian hospital; Between Revolutions [+see also:
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interview: Vlad Petri
film profile], by Vlad Petri, about the meaning of the revolutions in Iran and Romania, winner of the FIPRESCI prize at the Berlinale Forum; Here [+see also:
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interview: Bas Devos
film profile], by Bas Devos, an ode to nature and human connection in an urban environment, winner of the Best Film Award in the Encounters section at the Berlinale; It's Raining in the House [+see also:
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interview: Paloma Sermon-Daï
film profile], Paloma Sermon-Daï's first feature film, winner of the Cannes Critics' Week, which tackles the challenges of adolescence for marginalised characters; Up the River with Acid, by Harald Hutter, a portrait of dementia, winner of the Cinema du Réel award; Death of a City, by João Rosas, which films the last days of a Lisbon devoured by neoliberal urbanism; The Mountains [+see also:
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film profile], by Flora Dias and Juruna Mallon, about the workers at Guarulhos International Airport and Brazilian memory; Melisa Liebenthal's The Face of the Jellyfish, a reflection on the meaning of the face, presented at the Berlinale Forum and winner of the Best Director Award at Mar del Plata; and Tótem, by the Mexican art collective Unidad de Montaje Dialéctico, an exploration of violence and forms of resistance and community in their country.

In the National Official Selection, seven feature films will compete: Samsara [+see also:
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interview: Lois Patiño
film profile], by Lois Patiño, Jury Prize in the Encounters section at the Berlinale; Negu Hurbilak [+see also:
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interview: Colectivo Negu
film profile], by Colectivo Negu, Special Jury Mention in the Cineasti del presente section at Locarno; An Inhabited Volcano [+see also:
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interview: Alberto Martín Menacho
film profile], by Alberto Martín Menacho, presented at Visions du Réel and San Sebastian; Sultana's Dream [+see also:
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interview: Isabel Herguera
film profile], the animated film by Isabel Herguera, also presented at the San Sebastian festival; Soc filla de ma mare [+see also:
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interview: Oskar Alegría
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Among the titles in the Special Sessions are La chimera [+see also:
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film profile], by Alice Rohrwacher; the latest documentary by Nicolas Philibert, On the Adamant [+see also:
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interview: Nicolas Philibert
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interview: Laura Ferrés
film profile], the feature debut of Laura Ferrés, premiered at Locarno and for which she won the Golden Spike at the recent Seminci.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)