The ten films you can't miss from the BCN Film Fest

The literary and historical spirit once again fuels the BCN Film Fest, now in its ninth edition —paying tribute to the famous actor Marcello Mastroianni, whose centenary is celebrated in 2025—with an extensive program that will delight film lovers until May 2nd at the Verdi cinemas, the main venue, with tickets starting at €4.90. A total of 84 highly varied titles are part of the festival's various sections, and we're highlighting ten to whet your appetite.

Tracie Laymon 1. A 'like' from Bob Trevino

The inaugural film is a comedy-drama based on true events in which Barbie Ferreira—known for her role in the series Euphoria alongside Zendaya—plays an insecure and lonely twenty-something who has just been abandoned by her father. When she decides to follow his trail on Facebook, she finds a profile with the same name as him and starts liking it . This is how she meets Bob Trevino, a grieving man who recently lost his son and with whom she develops a close relationship. Ferreira will be in the Catalan capital to present this optimistic film about people who want to help others, a work that encourages us to restore faith in humanity.

Ido Fluk 2. Cologne 75

Another film based on true events tells the story of how Vera Brandes, a teenage icon of the 1970s Cologne music scene, risked everything to organize the biggest solo concert in music history, starring Keith Jarrett in Cologne. Vera Brandes herself will be at the festival accompanied by her actress, the magnificent Mala Emde, and the two will participate in a discussion with the audience to discuss this entertaining story, which will compete in the official section.

Azucena Rodríguez 3. Almudena

Director and screenwriter Azucena Rodríguez keeps the memory of Almudena Grandes alive in this documentary featuring statements from the writer herself, who shares her perspective on the world, her understanding of life, and her writing. Luis García Montero, her husband, completes the intimate portrait of a woman who, like few others, has been able to share her life story.

Avelina Prat 4. A Portuguese villa

Valencian filmmaker Avelina Prat crafts a delicate and humanistic, yet melancholic, piece filled with mysterious characters like those recreated by Manolo Solo and María de Medeiros in an exercise that delves into the importance of pausing to see the other, to explore what is different.

Uberto Pasolini 5. The return

British actor Ralph Fiennes, star of this edition where he will be honored with the honorary award , plays the muscular Ulysses in this new adaptation of Homer's Odyssey directed by Italian director Uberto Pasolini, where he shares the screen with Juliette Binoche and Ángela Molina.

Ferzan Ozpetek 6. Diamanti

Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek offers the viewer a tribute to cinema and women through a story centered on a director who wants to make a female-oriented film and calls upon his favorite actresses, those he has worked with and loved. He observes them, takes their cues, and is inspired, until his imagination catapults them to another era, to a past where the sound of sewing machines fills a workplace run and populated by women, where men have small, marginal roles, and cinema can be told from another perspective: that of the wardrobe.

Alissa Jung 7. Paternal leave

Father-son relationships are a recurring theme in this edition. German director Alissa Jung casts attractive Italian actor Luca Marinelli ( Martin Eden, The Eight Mountains ) to play a man who meets for the first time a teenage daughter with whom he has never had contact and who lives in Germany. After the girl suddenly appears in his life, he struggles to balance his relationship with her and the family he now has. At first, the fifteen-year-old just wants answers, but she soon begins to long to be a part of Paolo's life.

Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis 8. Wisdom and happiness

Richard Gere was the sponsor of the first edition of the BCN Film Fest and now returns to the festival as producer of a documentary featuring the Dalai Lama speaking directly to the camera about inner peace, happiness, and the potential for a peaceful and joyful 21st century. Directed by Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis, the film is participating in the Zona Oberta section. It will be screened on Tuesday, April 29th, followed by a discussion with Gere and the directors.

Alejandro Marín 9. The song

Also on the same day, April 29, you can watch the three-episode Movistar Plus+ miniseries La canción , which tells the story of how Massiel's historic triumph at the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was forged. Carolina Yuste plays the singer of the popular song La, la, la, accompanied by Patrick Criado and Àlex Brendemühl, who play those responsible for the Eurovision operation , a plan to find the ideal song and performer to project the image of a modern and open country in Europe, as the government desires.

Guillaume Nicloux 10. The divine Sarah Bernhardt

French director Guillaume Nicloux directs and co-writes with Nathalie Leuthreau this biographical drama about the legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt, which tells the story of a woman who lived multiple lives, where love and theater mattered more than anything. Through Sandrine Kiberlain's performance, the film shows Sarah's personality, her artistic genius, her love affairs, and the events that shaped her life. She was not only an immensely tragic actress with a rare magnetism, but also a woman ahead of her time. Free and determined, she boldly expressed her political and feminist views, often against the majority opinion.