PREVIEW OF THE 10TH EDITION OF THE BCN FILM FEST

Barcelona, 28th of January of 2026

The Barcelona–Sant Jordi International Film Festival (BCN Film Fest) presented this morning the official poster for its 10th edition, along with the first films confirmed for its programme. The Festival will take place from 16 to 24 April 2026 at Barcelona’s Verdi Cinemas, its main venue. The presentation was led by the director of the BCN Film Fest, journalist and film critic Conxita Casanovas.

“We’ve reached our tenth edition and we’re celebrating, with all the energy that comes with these milestones. The Centenary of our main venue, the Verdi Cinemas, fills us with excitement and will make this a very special edition, as it invites us to celebrate cinema,” says Conxita Casanovas.

OFFICIAL POSTER

The poster for the BCN Film Fest 2026 pays tribute to one of the films screened at the Verdi Cinemas over their 100‑year history: Notorious, a masterpiece that will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2026 and that brought together three of cinema’s most iconic figures — director Alfred Hitchcock and actors Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. A romantic still from this undeniable classic serves as the basis for the poster of the festival’s 10th edition, aiming to evoke and celebrate the power and magic of cinema.

“In such a belligerent moment, when anything can spark a fuse, what we offer is love for cinema. This is perfectly reflected in this year’s poster and in the embrace of the two protagonists of Notorious, which will accompany us throughout the nine days of the Festival,” adds the director about the image of this tenth edition.

“Our festival is a gem that we must continue to refine, and that is where we focus all our efforts. Once again, we are working intensively to finalise the titles for this tenth edition. We will also strengthen our bond with the city of Barcelona and with the Panot that represents us. We feel the trust and support of the industry, of our sponsors, and of course of the audience more and more each year,” says Casanovas about this year’s programme.

PREVIEW OF THE FIRST TITLES OF THE BCN FILM FEST 2026

The 10th edition of the festival will feature approximately 80 titles across its different sections. It is a festival that maintains and strengthens its connection with Literature and History, as once again demonstrated by the films in the Official Selection, based on literary adaptations or inspired by real events and historical figures

Below, a first advance of the programming: 

OFFICIAL SELECTION

AMRUM

By Fatih Akin / Amb Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke, Diane Kruger

Germany / Spanish Premiere 

A PALE VIEW OF HILLS

By Kei Ishikawa / Amb Suzu Hirose, Fumi Nikaidō, Yoh Yoshida

Japan, United Kingdom, Poland  / Spanish Premiere 

POR QUÉ NO ESCRIBO NADA

By Isabel Fernández / Amb Mónica López (narrator voice)

Spain / World Premiere

PRIMAVERA

By Damiano Michieletto / Amb Tecla Insolia, Michele Riondino

Italy / Spanish Premiere

ROSEMEAD

By Eric Lin / Amb Lucy Liu, Lawrence Shou

United Kingdom, Taiwan / Spanish Premiere

SOLOMAMMA

By Janicke Askevold

With Trude-Sofie Olavsrud Anthonsen, Céline Engebrigtsen, Stine Fevik

Latvia, Norway / Spanish Premiere

THE CHORAL

By Nicholas Hytner / Amb Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam, Mark Addy

United Kingdom, United States / Spanish Premiere

UNIDENTIFIED

By Haifaa Al-Mansour / Amb Abdullah Al-Qahtani, Mila Al Zahrani

South Arabia / Spanish Premiere

OFFICIAL SELECTION (OUT OF COMPETITION)

DUSE

By Pietro Marcello

With Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Fanni Wrochna, Noémie Merlant

Italy, France / Catalan Premiere

LOVE ME TENDER

By Anna Cazenave Cambet / Amb Vicky Krieps, Monica Chokri

France, Luxembourg / Catalan Premiere

MAGALLANES

By Lav Diaz

With Gael García Bernal, Ângela Azevedo, Amado Arjay Babon

Philippines, Spain, Portugal, France, Thailand / Catalan Premiere

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

By Miguel Ángel Jimémez

With Willem Dafoe, Victoria Carmen Sonne, Joe Coler, Emma Suárez, Carlos Cuevas, Francesc Garrido, Maria Pau Pigem

Greece, Spain, Netherlands / Spanish Premiere

CINEMA AMB GRÀCIA

TOKYO TAXI

By Yôji Yamada / Amb Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura

Japan / Spanish Premiere

ZONA OBERTA

GOOD BOY

By Jan Komasa / With Stephen Graham, Anson Boon, Andrea Riseborough

Poland United Kingdom / Catalan Premiere

THE OZU DIARIES

By Daniel Raim / Amb Yasujirô Ozu, Kogo Noda, Wim Wenders

United States / Catalan Premiere

ASIAN WOMAN BY CINEASIA

ETERNAL BREASTS

By Kinuyo Tanaka

Japan / 1955

STILL THE WATER

By Naomi Kawase

Japan, France, Spain / 2014

LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA

By Alankrita Shrivastava

India / 2016

THE FAREWELL

By Lulu Wang

China,United States / 2019

MY FAVOURITE CAKE

By Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha

Iran, France. Germany, Sweden / 2024

LOVE IN THE BIG CITY

By Lea Eon-hee

South Korea / 2024

CINEMA AL PLAT

MORTE CUCINA

By Pen-Ek Ratanaruang / Amb Bella Boonsang, Kris Srepoomseth

Thailand, Catalan Premiere, 2025

UNO DE LOS NUESTROS: LEGADO JOAN ROCA

By Jorge Fernández Mayoral, Virginia Jönas Urigüen

Spain / Catalan Premiere / 2025

VATEL

By Roland Joffé / With Gerard Depardieu, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth

France, United Kingdom, Belgium / 2000

IMPRESCINDIBLES: A HUNDRED YEARS OF CINEMA AT THE VERDI

As part of the Centenary of the Verdi Cinemas, the BCN Film Fest 2026 is dedicating its Retrospective to a selection of the most representative films screened over the cinema’s hundred‑year history, including:

LES NAUFRAGÉS DU SORT by Chalux (1921)

THE NIBELUNGS by Fritz Lang (1924)

NOTORIOUS by Alfred Hitchcock (1946)

THE WAGES OF FEAR by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1953)

REPULSION by Roman Polanski (1965)

CRIES AND WHISPERS by Ingmar Bergman (1972)

OBSESSION by Brian de Palma (1976)

CINEMA PARADISO by Giuseppe Tornatore (1988)

EYES WIDE SHUT by Stanley Kubrick (1999)

THE GLEANERS AND I by Agnès Varda (2000)

WATER by Deepa Mehta (2005)

THE WHITE RIBBON by Michael Haneke (2009)

SUMMER 1993 by Carla Simón (2017)

ROMA by Alfonso Cuarón (2018)

The Retrospective will be complemented by an exhibition on the Centenary of the Verdi Cinemas at the Jaume Fuster Library starting on March 30.

JURY OF THE FESTIVAL’S TENTH EDITION

The Official Jury of this upcoming edition will be composed of: director and screenwriter Joaquim Oristrell (who will serve as Jury President), actress Àngels Gonyalons, and actor Miki Esparbé.

AWARDS

In this 10th edition of the BCN Film Fest, the award for Best Direction will be renamed the La Vanguardia Award for Best Direction, further strengthening the festival’s partnership with the newspaper La Vanguardia. The festival will also continue to present the Best Editing Award, introduced in last year’s edition and created through the collaboration between the festival and AMMAC (the Association of Editors of Catalonia). 

The Screen International Award for Catalan Producer of the Year, presented by the prestigious international film magazine Screen International, will once again honour the most outstanding Catalan film producer of the year.

NEW SPONSORS AND NEW COLLABORATIONS

The festival extends its gratitude to all the companies and institutions that, once again, continue to support the BCN Film Fest, and welcomes back BANC SABADELL as an Official Collaborator.

NEW TALENTS

The New Talents section of the BCN Film Fest 2026 will showcase a selection of 21 short films chosen by seven Catalan universities offering film studies, along with equivalent academic centres: ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya), Blanquerna–Ramon Llull University, FX Barcelona Film School, University of Vic–Central University of Catalonia, La Casa del Cine, Bande à Part Escuela de Cine Barcelona, and Barcelona Cinema School & Actors Studio.

Each school will select three short films that will compete for the Best Short Film – New Talents Award, granted by a jury made up of journalists from the Catalan Association of Film Critics and Writers (ACCEC). The award includes a cash prize of 3,000 euros for the winning director, along with an official trophy. A second prize of 2,000 euros will be introduced, awarded to the school of the winning short film, further strengthening support for educational institutions.

The New Talents section of the BCN Film Fest reflects the festival’s dual purpose: to serve as an essential platform for discovering emerging voices in the film industry and to reaffirm its commitment to education and audiovisual training. These pedagogical values, which have been a hallmark of the festival since its beginnings, strengthen its role as a key space for empowering future generations of creators while fostering learning and artistic development.

NEW SECTION: MADE IN BARCELONA

In this very special edition, the Festival is introducing a new section, MADE IN BARCELONA, which will strengthen its ties with the city by bringing back to the big screen a film shot in Barcelona.

​The screening will be accompanied by a presentation and/or Q&A with members of the artistic and/or technical team who took part in the film’s production.

VENUES AND TICKETS FROM 5,90€

The screenings will take place across several venues in the city of Barcelona, including CINEMES VERDI, ATENEU BARCELONÈS, BIBLIOTECA JAUME FUSTER, CAIXAFORUM, CASA SEAT, and the INSTITUT FRANÇAIS, with the FILMOTECA DE CATALUNYA returning in this year’s edition.

As in previous editions, the Festival will also hold screenings in various Civic Centres across Barcelona (with free sessions) and in more than twenty film clubs throughout the country.

Tickets will be available from 5.90€