Nicolas Cage, Helen Mirren, Giuseppe Tornatore, Léa Seydoux, Sean Baker and Óscar Jaenada, stars of BCN FILM FEST
The Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival (BCN FILM FEST) already has the complete programme for its sixth edition, which will be held from 21 to 29 April, at the Verdi Cinemas in the Catalan capital as the main venue, and which includes 68 titles among the 8 sections of the event. Spectators will be able to see 8 world premières, 2 European premières and 29 Spanish premières, including 6 Catalan premières.
Michael Samoski's "Pig", with one of the most renowned performances by the veteran Nicolas Cage in recent years, will be the Festival's closing film.
In the Official Selection, Arnaud Desplechin's "Deception", starring Léa Seydoux and Denis Podalydes, based on the novel of the same name by Philip Roth; Hernán Jabes' "Jezabel", a psychological thriller about Venezuela's decadent society; Matti Geschonneck's "The Conference", about the Wannsee Conference, where Nazi leaders decided on the systematic murder of 11 million Jews; Sébastien Pilote's "Maria Chapdelaine", the coming-of-age of a young woman in rural Quebec who must choose between three very different suitors; and Kamila Andini's "Yuni", winner of the Platform Award at the last Toronto Film Festival.
Also in the Official Section, but out of competition, are "Ennio: The Maestro", by Giuseppe Tornatore, about the great composer Ennio Morricone, with testimonies by Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood and Oliver Stone, and "La piel en llamas", by David Martín Porras, with Óscar Jaenada and Fernando Tejero, based on the play of the same name by Gillem Clua.
Other productions that are eagerly awaited are: "The Duke", by Roger Mitchell, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, based on the true story of a taxi driver who stole Francisco de Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London; " La brigada de la cocina", by Louis-Julien Petit, starring Audrey Lamy and François Cluzet; "Todo el mundo odia a Johan", about an eccentric, misfit inhabitant of a small Norwegian village, and "Red Rocket", the latest offering from "Tangerine" and "The Florida Project" director Sean Baker, with an outstanding performance by Simon Rex. All of them will compete in the Cinema amb Gràcia section.
In the Zona Oberta, Esther Cases' documentary on the clandestine political cinema of the end of Franco's regime, "El pilar"; Jaime Chávarri's classic "Las bicicletas son para el verano", celebrating the 40th anniversary of the premiere of Fernando Fernán Gómez's play, and "Lunana, a yak in the classroom", nominated for an Oscar for Best International Film, about a young teacher sent to a remote area of Bhutan, in the Himalayas, will be screened.
In the usual commitment to art films, which is already part of the DNA of A Contracorriente films, the Festival will screen "Botticelli y Florencia. El nacimiento de la Belleza", "El indomable Modigliani" and "Napoleon: en el nombre del arte".
The Official Jury of the BCN FILM FEST will be chaired by José Luis Rebordinos, director of the San Sebastian Film Festival, who will be accompanied by writer and screenwriter Ignacio Martínez de Pisón and actress Aina Clotet.
The critics and journalists from the Catalan Association of Film Critics and Writers (ACCEC) Jordi Izquierdo, Paula Arantzazu and Toni Junyent will make up the jury that will award the Critics' Prize. The jury for the Film-History Award (UB) for Best Film for its historical values will be made up of Francesc Sánchez Barba, Juan Vaccaro and Virgina Vaccaro.
A programme and a luxury cast for a festival that has already carved out a niche for itself alongside the most acclaimed festivals in Spain: San Sebastian, Valladolid and Malaga.
