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 [+lire aussi :
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Q&A : Christophe Honoré
fiche film].

Other French (co-)productions that will be showcased at D'A 2019 include the western The Sisters Brothers [+lire aussi :
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interview : Jacques Audiard
fiche film] by Jacques Audiard, A Faithful Man [+lire aussi :
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interview : Louis Garrel
fiche film] by Louis Garrel (which will have the honour of opening the festival), Amanda [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mikhaël Hers
fiche film] by Mikhaël Hers, Father and Sons [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (the directorial debut by actor Félix Moati), Coincoin and the Extra Humans [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (the new series by Bruno Dumont), the whimsical Paul Sanchez Is Back! [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Patricia Mazuy, Blonde Animals [+lire aussi :
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interview : Maxime Matray et Alexia Wa…
fiche film] by Alexia Walther and Maxime Matray, Sophia Antipolis [+lire aussi :
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interview : Virgil Vernier
fiche film] by Virgil Vernier, Keep Going [+lire aussi :
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interview : Joachim Lafosse
fiche film] by Belgium’s Joachim Lafosse and the documentary Treasure Island [+lire aussi :
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interview : Guillaume Brac
fiche film] by Guillaume Brac. Nor will there be any lack of fresh shenanigans from the likes of Brits Peter Strickland (In Fabric [+lire aussi :
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interview : Peter Strickland
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interview : Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
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interview : Rita Azevedo Gomes
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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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marta Lallana et Ivet Cast…
fiche film] by Marta Lallana and Ivet Castelo; The Hidden City [+lire aussi :
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interview : Víctor Moreno
fiche film], a captivating descent into the urban underworld, courtesy of Víctor Moreno; Karelia: International with Monument [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a documentary by Andrés Duque; the project Quién lo impide [+lire aussi :
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interview : Jonás Trueba
fiche film], 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 [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Asturian director Ramón Lluís Bande, featuring traditional songs that have been reworked by Nacho Vegas; Wandering Star [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alberto Gracia
fiche film] by Alberto Gracia; the experimental film Letters to Paul Morrissey [+lire aussi :
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interview : Armand Rovira
fiche film] by Armand Rovira; Love Me Not [+lire aussi :
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interview : Lluís Miñarro
fiche film] by Lluís Miñarro; and The Days to Come [+lire aussi :
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interview : Carlos Marques-Marcet
fiche film], 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.