BCN Film Fest kicks off with €2.90 tickets on offer

Johnny Depp and Isabelle Huppert will be among stars to appear in a mostly in-person programme

An image of Naomi Watts from the film Penguin Bloom, premiering at the 5th BCN Film Fest (image courtesy of image.net)
An image of Naomi Watts from the film Penguin Bloom, premiering at the 5th BCN Film Fest (image courtesy of image.net) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

April 15, 2021 01:43 PM

The 2021 edition of the Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival (BCN Film Fest) gets underway on Thursday, April 15, with another fantastic offering of screenings, and some huge Hollywood names coming to town as well.

Tickets are available from as little as €2.90 and can be bought directly from the festival’s website. BCN Film Fest also remind any filmgoers to hold onto their tickets if they are returning home after 10 pm, as that is when the nightly curfew comes into force, and the tickets will have to be shown to authorities if they are questioned.

The fifth edition of the festival will last until April 23 and will be held in person after a year of mostly online festivals across the world. Cinemas Verdi in the neighbourhood of Gràcia will host many of the screenings, while others will also take place in the Institut Français, the CaixaForum, and Casa Seat.

All venues will have reduced capacities and other safety measures will be in effect. 

Actors Johnny Depp and Isabelle Huppert will both be participating in person at the festival, presenting The Photographer of Minamata and Mama Maria respectively. 

Promising Young Woman, directed by Emerald Fennell in her feature debut and which brings five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, will be one of the biggest hits this year and kicked the festival off on Thursday. 

Entre Rosas, directed by Pierre Pinaud, will bring the final curtain down on what will surely be a successful week of cinema. 

This edition features 60 titles from 24 different countries across the 6 sections of the contest, and four world premieres will be on show.

Including international superstars Depp and Huppert, the red carpet will see thirty different cinematic stars, mostly Catalan and Spanish, such as Fernando Trueba, Javier Cámara, Carmen Chaplin, Fernando Colomo, Karra Elejalde, Toni Acosta and Quim Ávila.

Directors Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Wife of a Spy), Massoud Bakhshi (Yalda, A Night for Forgiveness) and Philippe Falardeau (My Salinger Year) will participate electronically, as will Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising).

The director and actor of cinema and theater Mario Gas will lead the jury of the BCN Film Fest, which will also count on the knowledge of actress Laia Marull and director Jaume Balagueró. The three will award prizes for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Music.