films

This past weekend Barcelona has been the international capital of sport and films. About 70 movies were screened and all kinds of sporting disciplines were represented in the 4th edition of this consolidated film festival. The winner of the best film in the BCN Sports Film Festival was the Spanish documentary ‘Pura Vida’ (The Ridge). As part of the programme there were also ‘One to One’ meetings between producers, directors and distributors, as well as the ‘Pitching advice’ presentations, a great chance to show new audiovisual projects.

The 19th edition of the Latin American Film Festival in Lleida ended last weekend after showing 117 films from 14 different countries. Argentine film director Gustavo Garzón’s movie 'Por un tiempo' (‘For a time’) had its world premiere while honorary awards were delivered to Spanish actor José Coronado and Mexican actor Damián Alcazar. 'Porcelain horse' (Mejor no hablar de ciertas cosas), directed by Ecuador’s Javier Andrade, won the Best Film Award. The budget for this year’s edition had been reduced by 24% and the Festival was forced to remove documentary and retrospective sections from the programme.

Dubbing is deeply rooted in Spanish and Catalan television and cinema but it is now dealing with a crisis of demand. At the same time, voices have been raised against dubbing by those defending original language versions of movies. In Catalonia, dubbing is not only a way to access films easier but also to normalise the use of Catalan language. CNA has talked to several members of the dubbing industry in order to understand what it is and to portray how it works.

The 17th edition of the International Animated Movie Exhibition of Catalonia, Animac, will take place once again in the Catalan city of Lleida, in western Catalonia. From the 28th of February to the 3rd of March, Lleida will become the capital city of international animated cinema once again, playing host to a large number of conferences, presentations, workshops and related activities about this entertainment industry. The exhibition’s program was announced in Barcelona at the CCCB, where the documentary maker Hanna Heilborn was invited to talk about her anti-slavery work ‘Slavar’. More than one hundred movies will be shown over five days in Lleida’s Animac.

‘Blancanieves’ with 12 nominations and ‘El Bosc’ with 11 are leading the race at this year’s Gaudí awards ceremony. They are followed by ‘Els nens salvatges’ and ‘Fènix 11-23’, who are also candidates for the Best Film in Catalan. The Premis Gaudí are organised by the Catalan Cinema Academy and they recognise Catalan productions or movies with a significant presence of Catalan artistic and technical staff. They also award a prize for European productions. Out of the 89 films in the competition, 30 have received one or several nominations, becoming candidates to receive one of the 22 awards. ‘The Impossible’, ‘In The House’, ‘Le Havre’ and ‘The Intouchables’ are candidates for the Best European Movie.

Over 300 short films from more than 35 countries in 12 days. This is the summary of the 14th edition of Mecal, the Barcelona International Short Film Festival, which takes place in the capital of Catalonia until April 29th. In this 2012 edition more than 4,500 short films have been received, 1,000 more than the last edition (about 30% more than 2011). With these figures, Mecal becomes the most important festival of its kind in Spain according to the number of film entries. Mecal’s Director, Roberto Barrueco, explained that the festival’s objective is to show the best of work from Catalonia and across the globe.

‘Pa Negre’ (‘Black Bread’) and its nomination to represent Spain at the 2012 Oscars reflects the desire of Catalan productions to shine with their own light, without losing their identity nor language along the way. Catalan cinema has reached a new stage in its history. Powered by a generation of young directors and a renewal of themes, Catalonia’s film industry wants to expand its borders and become part of the international cinema market.

CNA talks to some of the most important figures from the Catalan cinema industry to discuss the main challenges for the future after 2010 was described as “the best year” to date for movies filmed and produced at home

Fifty companies make deals on future films