21 premieres at 20th edition of REC film festival in Tarragona

The 20th edition of REC, the Tarragona International Film Festival, gets underway this Wednesday evening, with the Catalan and Spanish premiere of 'Josep', an animated feature film by the French illustrator Aurel, which featured in the Cannes Film Festival.

It tells the story of Josep Bartolí, a Catalan cartoonist and painter who emigrated to France during the Civil War, and is one of 21 Catalan and Spanish premieres at this year's festival, out of a total of 40 films.

Audiences will be able to attend screenings, which instead of taking place in the Antiga Audiència cultural center will be held at the Teatre Tarragona, to accommodate more social-distanced audience members.

Festival director, Javier García Puerto, says the fact that they are among the few film festivals able to do screenings this year will stand them in good stead for the future.

Films will also be available to view via the streaming platform, Filmin, until December 16, with 9,000 views already racked up in advance of the official festival opening night. The festival itself will run until December 8. The online program also includes some films that have featured in previous editions of the festival.

Given the uncertainty around cultural events this year, Puerto summed up his feelings by saying, "the best way to celebrate 20 years is to be able to do the festival."

The full programme is available on the festival website, festivalrec.com.