docsbarcelona

For its 24th edition, the event is back with a reimagined hybrid format which will be ‘here to stay’

Over-the-top content providers see growth hosting prestigious film festivals on their online platform

This year's edition of documentary film festival will feature 35 productions from 22 countries from May 19 to 31

Barcelona’s documentary film festival will screen 41 movies from 26 countries

The 2018 edition of the city's documentary film festival includes 14 Catalan productions

DocsBarcelona International Festival celebrates its 20th Edition between May 18th and May 28th. The festival now lasts ten days instead of five, so that this year’s edition can include a record 90 documentaries. One of the most outstanding films is the Catalan-German production ‘Hacking Justice’ which tells the story of Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, who fought to prove the innocence of ‘Wikileaks’ founder, Julian Assange. DocsBarcelona received over 500 projects from 65 different countries worldwide, a figure which represents a 14% increase in the number of submissions in comparison to last year, consolidating the festival at an international scale.

The DocsBarcelona 2016 film festival opened this year’s edition with the documentary ‘Sonita’ by Iranian director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami on Wednesday. The film is about an eighteen-year-old Afghan girl after which the film is named, who emigrates illegally to Iran to pursue her dream of being a hip hop artist, despite her mother’s opposition. The DocsBarcelona film festival is running until the 29^th of May, during which one can see 46 films from 28 countries at the multidisciplinary institution and museum Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) and the Aribau Club cinema. While keeping in mind the important theme of refugees, the documentary also raises the important issue of what role a film should play in the subject it is filming. “Documentary films reflect the society we live in, and in ten years they will reflect what is happening in society”, reflected the director of DocsBarcelona, Juan Gonzàlez.

The 18^th edition of the international documentary film festival DocsBarcelona will open its doors on 25 May. This year, 42 films from 26 countries will be screened in 3 different locations: the Aribau Cinema Club, the CCCB (Barcelona's Contemporary Culture Centre) and La Pedrera's cultural centre, located in Antoni Gaudí's famous building. Through the rich selection of this edition's programme, a wide range of human and social issues will be explored. These will include individual and family stories, pieces on historical memory, films to do with fundamental rights, as well as reflections on the environment and the economy. 'Falciani’s Tax Bomb' by Ben Lewis will open the festival, while the event closing will take place on 31 May with the screening of 'Dancing with Maria' by Ivan Gergolet.

The 16th edition of the DocsBarcelona festival increased audience figures by 40% compared to 2012. The festival organisation thinks that one of the reasons for such an increase is the fact that they have moved the event from winter to spring. Furthermore, the improvement in the festival’s communication and image management as well as the higher number of movies shown and sessions held could also be behind the positive 2013 figures. Joshua Oppenheimer’s ‘The Act of Killing’ received the best movie award for its work picturing Anwar Congo’s death squads in Indonesia. Catalan Eva Vila’s ‘Bajarí’ received the jury’s special mention.

The British film director Peter Greenaway was the guest of honour at the international documentary festival that took place in Barcelona from the 1st to the 6th of February. With up to 42 screenings all around the city, the festival showcased the crème de la crème of documentary making. In the end, the American documentary 'Foreign Parts' scooped the top award for best film this year and 'Enemies of the People', a chronicle of the horrific genocide of the Khmer Rouge won the Catalan Public Television prize for Human Rights