DocsBarcelona 24

Three Catalan documentaries will compete in the Official Section of the DocsBarcelona 2024 International Documentary Film Festival, and nine more will compete in the new Docs&Cat section. A total of twelve titles make up the DocsBarcelona's “firmest commitment to the Catalan creative talent and industry, with which the event vindicates the particular look that Catalan cinema dedicates to the documentary genre,” write organisers.

The professional market of the 27th DocsBarcelona International Documentary Film Festival will run May 6-10. Projects are selected across the Public Pitch, Speed Meetings, Rough Cut and New Tech Pitch sections and participants within each section will present to a panel of international decision makers, funders and distributors. The DocsBarcelona festival runs May 2-12.

The documentary, directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó and which premiered at Sundance 2024, examines the Gross National Happiness index in Bhutan as well as the personal happiness of one of the people measuring it. Sales on Agent of Happiness are handled by Cinephil. DocsBarcelona runs May 2 to 12. DocsBarcelona Industry will run May 6 to 10.

The Emmy-nominated North American filmmaker will reveal the secrets behind his “unique, captivating vision” and his HBO-backed show How To With John Wilson. "It is a pleasure to welcome to Barcelona one of the documentary directors with a more humane and empathetic approach to the mundane, with such a capacity to appreciate the details of life and to relish what we can only see when we actively look”, says Èric Motjer, Head of DocsBarcelona Industry, which runs May 6-10.

DocsBarcelona will pay tribute to French filmmaking couple Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret during its upcoming edition, running May 2 to 12. The Honorary DocsBarcelona Award “highlights their honest and authentic approach to people and landscapes from a seemingly shy and distant perspective that, at the same time, can turn into art the tension between photography and the temporal dimension of cinema.”

Several awards to be given to the best projects selected across the various Forum funding activities (Public Pitch, Rough Cut Pitch, New Tech Pitch and Speed Meetings) during the 27th edition of the festival. Professional activities, including the inaugural Tech Pitch, will take place May 6-10 May. The deadline for project registration is January 29.