Barcelona set to present various activities as part of the 22nd Spiritual Film Festival of Catalonia
From 15 to 30 November, Barcelona will once again be one of the main venues for the Spiritual Film Festival of Catalonia, an event that brings together cinema, values and spirituality and which this year celebrates its 22nd edition.
Organised by the General Directorate of Religious Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, the festival will take place in 37 municipalities across the country, but Barcelona will play a prominent role with the broad participation of entities, education centres and religious communities that will be presenting screenings, talks and debates.
Barcelona entities that promote spiritual dialogue
This year, at the 22nd Festival, 106 films will be screened, 61 entities will participate and 92 people will act as presenters. The Jesuïtes del Clot, Cristianisme i Justícia, theEsglésia Protestant de Barcelona – Centre, the Centre Bahá’í de Barcelona, the Jesuïtes de Casp and the Lluïsos d’Horta are just some of the entities that will be opening their doors to the public to share different perspectives on faith, culture and coexistence. Also taking part are leading venues such as the Cinemes Verdi, the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the Blanquerna Faculty of Communications and International Relations, the Teatre de Sarrià and the Abat Oliba CEU University, among many others.
This wide range of settings makes Barcelona a true meeting point between cinema and spiritual reflection, with activities that promote interreligious dialogue and coexistence between traditions and beliefs.
Cinema and activities with values for a time of change
Under the motto “Tots diferents, tots iguals” (All different, all equal), the festival offers screenings that reflect on the human condition, diversity and equality. This year, around eighty films will be shown and participants will be able to take part in debates led by specialists.
In addition, the Filmoteca de Catalunya will be presenting a retrospective dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky, the master of Russian cinema who explored spirituality and the meaning of life in depth.
In addition to the in-person screenings, audiences will be able to enjoy 26 additional titles on the FilminCAT platform, thus maintaining the hybrid format of the festival.
Educational activities in prisons and juvenile detention centres consolidate the social vocation of the festival, which combines reflection, culture and engagement.
Catalan production with a social and spiritual perspective
The festival will also feature the première of two Catalan documentaries of great human sensitivity:
- Hospital de campanya (Field Hospital), by Jordi Roigé, which documents the solidarity work with homeless people carried out by the Parish Church of Santa Anna in Barcelona.
- Natura sagrada (Sacred Nature), by Joan Salicrú, which explores the relationship between spirituality, territory and natural heritage within Catalan culture.
A long-standing proposal with a forward-looking approach
With the involvement of so many Barcelona entities, this 22nd edition reaffirms Barcelona’s position as a space open to spiritual dialogue and coexistence through cinema.
The presentation of the 22nd Spiritual Film Festival of Catalonia will be taking place today, Wednesday 12 November, at 8 pm, at the Filmoteca de Catalunya. The presentation will be given by the deputy general director of Religious Affairs, Víctor Álvarez, the festival’s director of content, Peio Sánchez, and the head of public programmes at the Filmoteca, Marina Vinyes. The opening ceremony will include the presentation, screening and subsequent debate of the film Ivanovo destvo, led by Tamara Djermanovic, a scholar specialising in Andrei Tarkovsky.