D'A - Film Festival Barcelona

The D'A Film Festival Barcelona 2024 reaches its 14th edition with the best auteur cinema being produced in the world: a combination of new and established directors, films that have triumphed at other international festivals and a focus on new trends in filmmaking.

The 2024 edition of the D'A Film Festival Barcelona

The full program of D'A 2024 will include around 120 films, covering both feature and short films. The event will bring together approximately sixty guests in Barcelona, who will present their works and participate in dialogues with the festival audience. D'A 2024 will take place in several venues, such as the CCCB, the Mooby Aribau cinemas, the Zumzeig hall and the Filmoteca de Catalunya. This year two new venues have been added: Casa Montjuïc and the Sala Paral-lel 62, which will host the festival's opening ceremony.

Among this year's featured films are contemporary cinema titles such as "On Dry Grass" by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, "Eureka" by Lisandro Alonso with Viggo Mortensen, "Le Retour" by Catherine Corsini, and "Critical Zone" by Ali Ahmadzadeh, whose work is banned in Iran. There are also Argentine films such as "Arturo a los 30" by Martin Shanly and "El viento que arrasa" by Paula Hernández with Sergi López. In addition, films from lesser-known cinematographies such as "Snow Leopard" by Tibetan director Pema Tseden and "Animal" by Sofia Exarchou from Greece. Also of note is "Camping du lac" by Éléonore Saintagnan, a Locarno award-winning docufiction with a fascinating story and climate awareness.

D'A 2024 will present outstanding Spanish feature films that have shone at international festivals, promising to be part of the best of the year. Among them, Sergio Caballero's "Lolo & Sosaku - The Western Archive", dedicated to sound and visual art artists, world premiered at Rotterdam 2024. Macu Machín debuts with "La hojarasca", a women's story from the Forum section of Berlinale 2024. Jaime Puertas returns with "Historia de pastores", a neo-noir and sci-fi comedy premiering at Rotterdam 2024. Liliana Torres presents "Mamífera", starring Maria Rodríguez and Enric Auquer, premiered at SXSW in Texas. Pau Calpe explores rurality in "Llobàs", a psychological drama with Pol López, while Celia Giraldo debuts with "Un lugar común", starring Eva Llorach, addressing the crisis of identity and generational clash.

Opening

Isaki Lacuesta presents at D'A 2024 his film "Second Prize", co-directed with Pol Rodríguez and scripted by Lacuesta and Fernando Navarro. Inspired by Los Planetas, it deals with the recording of their third album "Una semana en el motor de un autobús" (1998), exploring themes of separation and self-destruction. The opening will be at the Sala Paral-lel 62, with the presence of the director and crew, marking its premiere in Catalonia.

Focus of D'A 2024

D'A 2024 dedicates its focus to Catherine Breillat, the historic French filmmaker who has always navigated the margins and finally receives the recognition that had previously eluded her in her maturity. Her most recent work, "The Last Summer," made its world debut at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 and was hailed by Cahiers du Cinéma as one of the best films of the year. Breillat has been noted for her focus on exploring female desire in her films, constantly challenging the barriers of sexual representation in cinema.

The D'A sections

• Directors: established directors of world cinema.
• Talents: directors with less than three films in their filmography.
• Transicions: emerging authors who are already more than promising.
• Focus: retrospective section, dedicated this year to the 60th anniversary of the Critics' Week, the oldest parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival.
• Premieres: the premieres of the festival.
• A Collective Impulse 2022: will review the state of Spanish cinema produced outside the official sector.
• City Symphonies: a project produced by the CCCB that presents different perceptions of the city through the eyes of six female directors and a collective.
• Filmin Emergents: films by new directors.
• Audiovisual Concerts: concert series.