Today, I received my very first film festival press pass in Barcelona. Taking this as a starting point, I plan to share more about watching films in Europe—whether at festivals or through other curious cinematic experiences. Writing this is not only a way to introduce fellow film lovers to Barcelona, a relatively “obscure” city in terms of cinema, but also a small form of self-consolation. Before coming to Spain—and even for a while after arriving—I genuinely felt like there was nothing to watch here. Compared to the lively film scene I was used to back in China, it felt far too quiet. But after some time, I realized it’s not so bad after all. Sure, local cinemas love screening dubbed Hollywood films, and many of the festival selections feel like leftovers from last year’s Pingyao Festival—but even so, I’ve had some pleasant surprises. One has to live in the moment, and I believe there are many more unexpected experiences waiting for me here. So, let’s get into it.
1. D’A Festival Cinema Barcelona
“D’A” is a phrase in Catalan, short for De Autor in Spanish, or “Author” in English. So you could call it the “Barcelona Auteur Film Festival.” The festival aims to encourage original work, especially by directors with strong personal voices. Probably the most famous Chinese-language “auteur” film they’ve shown here was Kaili Blues by Bi Gan.
2. Film List
Looking at the selection helps you better understand the festival’s taste.
From the 13 spotlight films on the homepage, what common threads can you find? Personally, I can only say four of them are “leftovers from Pingyao”…
That said, there are still plenty of good films. Aside from the local Spanish title La Furia, most others had premiered about a year ago. But in a country like Spain, where film distribution is notoriously slow, screenings like this still serve the film festival crowd well.
3. “Featured Filmmaker”: Roberto Minervini
Born in the 1970s, Minervini is an Italian male director. His most recent work The Damned was selected for the 2024 Cannes Un Certain Regard section. All in all, he’s not a particularly well-known director in China—his highest-rated film on Douban is only 6.9. The festival screened six of his films in total.
4. Chinese-Language Films
A total of five Chinese-language films were selected for screening, with the primary production country in parentheses:
A Fall in the Dark (Singapore)
Xiao-Yan and Ai-Li Wu (Taiwan)
Hard Time (Taiwan)
Homecoming (Taiwan)
The Fever Dream of a White Horse (Hong Kong)
(Mainland China: 0 entries selected)
5. Other Notes
Some of the festival films don’t even have English subtitles—some don’t even have Spanish ones! Just Catalan. This makes it difficult for non-locals, or for people like me who understand Spanish but not Catalan, to fully enjoy the films. The same goes for the Catalan Film Archive. It seems they’re not very concerned with being “international”—instead, they focus purely on local identity. Of course, you can tell just by the festival’s name: D’A Festival Cinema Barcelona 2025. It’s a Barcelona auteur festival, not an international auteur festival.
Here’s a funny bit: the press pass rules stated that media could only start reserving screenings on the 26th. When I picked up the pass, the staff specifically emphasized: reservations start at midnight on the 26th. I was bracing for a late-night ticket scramble (since most seats were already sold, and only a few are reserved for media). But when I casually checked the schedule around 8pm on the 25th, I realized media access was already open. Not sure what kind of backend bug that was…
In the end, I successfully booked 18 screenings for just €30 (€25 media fee + €5 tax), and I’m ready to binge-watch for a whole week.
Originally written on March 28, 2025.