Anna Petrus, the director of DocsBarcelona, discusses the centrepieces of its 27th edition, which unspools from 2-12 May.

Cineuropa: Which criteria did you follow when selecting films for the Docs&Pearls Official Section this year, and how do these movies fit in with contemporary debates?
Anna Petrus: One of the most thrilling aspects of the festival programming process is that we gradually discover the topics and perspectives that unite filmmakers from all over the world. That’s what gives meaning and coherence to the act of programming because it highlights the fact that there is a universal interest as well as shared creative interests among creators.

At this edition, the main thematic concept of the Docs&Pearls Official International Section is the act of calling colonialism into question. Many of the films that are touring the main festivals around the world adopt a decolonial perspective when it comes to telling their stories, and this comes at a time when we are fighting for diversity both behind and in front of the camera, and at a time when people are becoming increasingly sensitive to unpicking the narratives and the tales trapped within the colonial perspective. So, at DocsBarcelona, audiences will be able to watch films such as Mambar Pierrette [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rosine Mbakam
scheda film], Our Land, Our Freedom [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], Rosinha and Other Wild Animals, Pure Unknown [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], Phantoms of the Sierra Madre [+leggi anche:
intervista: Håvard Bustnes
scheda film] and Daughter of Genghis [+leggi anche:
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scheda film].

However, it’s true that viewers will be able to find other relevant themes in the programme, such as the perils of the digital world (My Sextortion Diary [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and The Click Trap) as well as stories of female empowerment (Mexican Dream and Copa 71 [+leggi anche:
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What prompted you to create the Docs&Love section, and what can audiences expect from the selected movies?
The Docs&Theme strand is a new, non-competitive thematic section that attempts to focus on a different topic each year. For this first edition, we have decided to home in on love, in its broadest sense, given that we are living through a moment in which we, as a society, are reevaluating our way of connecting with one another emotionally. It’s a section that is intended to highlight the importance of emotional networks and, at the same time, call into question the social regulatory framework that prioritises romantic love as an aspirational goal, relegating other important forms of love, such as brotherhood or sisterhood, friendship, love for animals, and love for nature or for art, among many others, to a secondary status. Thus, we will screen titles of the likes of Queendom [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lina Soualem
scheda film] and Echo of You [+leggi anche:
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scheda film].

How would you describe the Docs&Cat section, and what impact do you think it will have on the Catalonian documentary landscape?
Despite the fact that DocsBarcelona has always closely accompanied local talent, we decided to create a specific section to highlight and lend joint visibility to local productions, with the strategic objective of giving local documentary a strong position on the international stage. We will have the eagerly awaited docs by outstanding filmmakers such as Adrián Silvestre (May Your Will Be Done [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Adrián Silvestre
scheda film]), Patricia Franquesa (My Sextortion Diary), Lucija Stojevic (Pepi Fandango [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lucija Stojević
scheda film]), Miguel Eek (Burden [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]) and Laia Manresa (Casa Reynal), among others. Their common denominator is that they are all courageous commitments to exploring and expanding the formal possibilities of documentary, which range from hybrids to narratives based on digital languages.

The creative duo made up of Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret will receive the honorary prize known as Docs de Honor. Which aspects of their work made you settle on them?
The history of cinema is full of creative duos who have given rise to some of the most memorable films of all time. In the case of Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret, an international jury made up of Tue Steen Müller, Jenny Westergard, Diego Mas Trelles, Joan González and myself decided that the time had come to present them with our honorary award, given that they have been working together for more than 30 years and they are the brains behind acclaimed documentaries such as Caught in the Acts (1994) and Modern Life [+leggi anche:
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