Welcome to DocsBarcelona 2021

At a press conference today the DocsBarcelona programme was announced. In Barcelona. The Head of Programming – me – living in Copenhagen – was not there but I had in beforehand sent these welcoming words:

Here we go again… No, here we sit again, at home watching documentaries on our computers or i-pads or phones (!), or maybe some have purchased a small projector and created their own cinema with a bigger image? Whatever, the pandemic is here and DocsBarcelona goes online as in 2020.

Good, as last year showed a huge interest from viewers from all over Spain with one of the best attendance statistics among festivals in Europe. Nailing the fact that there is an audience for the documentary genre. And that many outside the “normal” documentary community were interested and joined the party. Reaching a new audience.

Bad, as documentaries are Films and Films should be seen in cinemas. Nothing compares to being seated in a big room full of people watching and listening: Perfect image, Perfect sound. Cross your fingers: Depending on the evolution of the pandemic several films will also be screened in cinemas in Barcelona.

The program committe has done its best to make a strong selection for you. We have watched hundreds of films. There are documentaries from all over the world and about the world we live in. Social, political, historical, personal. There are documentaries that challenge the mainstream way of telling stories – stories that can give you food for thought and make you share a tear. Of joy or sadness. A sow and its piglets, floating trees, lobster soup in Iceland, demonstrations in Hongkong, several films from the Middle East, colonialism in Mexico and Africa, a cuban dancer, Gorbachev, women’s rights, female volleyball players, artists, a kiosk in Paris… films for all tastes, but not for the bad!

We hope you will find time and energy to check out the list of films and find one or more that appeals to you. It’s up to you to make up your mind, what you want to see, we have done our best to offer you the best of the best.

Enjoy! www.docsbarcelona.com including “Gunda” by master Kossakovsky.

OBS! The programme of the festival films, are available solely for the audience in Spain. BUT for professionals there is a unique chance to get acquainted. Read the news I got from the HQ in Barcelona: This year all the accredited professionals will have access to the catalog of our Festival films and the films will be exclusively available for professionals until the end of this year 2021, so people accredited outside Spain not only have access to the activities of Industry but also to the films. early bird registration has a discount: 50 euros until 29th of April. https://docsbarcelona.com/en/industry/edition-2021-industry/accreditations#

 

An offer you can not refuse !

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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