'Ohlalà' Festival of Francophone Cinema returns to Barcelona

For the next seven days at the French Institute and Cine Texas, a celebration of French film (subtitled in Catalan or Spanish) is back in Barcelona.

The festival opens on Wednesday with a screening of comedy En liberté! ('The Trouble With You') by Pierre Salvadori, and will close the following Tuesday with seven-time César Award-nominated Pupille ('In Safe Hands) by Jeanne Henry.

The official part of the program is composed of 11 feature-length films, including an animation and a documentary, many of which have never been shown in Catalonia.

Many of the films chosen for this year were made outside France, in French-speaking countries such as Belgium, Tunisia, Switzerland and Canada.

The festival also dedicates a retrospective to Agnès Jaoui, the French actress with the highest number of César Awards in history to her name, comprising five of her films.

Films reviewed

Accompanying the screenings will be discussions or masterclasses with people involved in the productions, most notably Jaoui, Catherine Corsini, director of Un amour impossible ('An Impossible Love'), and actor Pierre Deladonchamps.

For the first time at the contest, in addition to the audience and young jury awards, five prominent Catalan film reviewers and scholars will come together to award a critics prize.

Some 2,500 spectators attended the inaugural edition of the event last year, which was the first festival dedicated to Francophone cinema ever to be held in Barcelona.

Tickets are available online or at the door for between €3 and €8 per film.