D'A Film Festival 2026

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Film still from "Affection Affection" directed by Alexia Walther, Maxime Matray (France, 2025).

Spring brings with it one of the most prestigious film festivals in Europe. The D’A Film Festival Barcelona is a cultural event that features an international outlook of the best contemporary auteur cinema, combining the discovery of new talents with established cinematographies. A cinema that, after standing out in the great festivals, stops at an event that celebrates cinephilia and puts in the foreground the creativity, personality and artistic freedom of its directors.

This year's retrospective is dedicated to German filmmaker Christian Petzold, who will attend the festival to present an extensive retrospective of his work—including numerous titles that are currently unavailable or have never been released—as well as the Catalan premiere of his latest film, Miroirs No. 3. Petzold’s view of contemporary Europe, somewhere between hopeful and on the verge of collapse, between the promise of the future and the gaze of past catastrophes, has taken the form of melodrama, fantastic fables and sociopolitical stories that are completely outside the norm. His cinema, a direct heir to the Berlin School, is characterized by precise and austere staging, with characters often trapped in spaces of transit. A prolific filmmaker, selected and awarded at festivals such as Berlin, Venice and San Sebastián, he has established himself as one of the essential voices of contemporary European cinema.

2026 Program

The festival opens with David Moragas' Un altre home (Spain, 2026) a contemporary love story with touches of comedy that explores the complexity of romantic relationships and the decisions couples are often faced with in their thirties—a reflection on love, expectations and loss at a pivotal moment in life. Other films on the agenda include Alexia Walther and Maxime Matray's Affection Affection (France, 2025), a meandering film that takes the form of a thriller as a town hall employee takes on the investigation of a teenage girl's disappearance amid swirling rumors; Eimi Imanishi's debut feature Nomad Shadow (Spain, USA, 2025) explores displacement and the search for identity in a film that moves intelligently between poetry and politics; and Claire Denis' The Fence (France, 2025) delves into the darkest corners of neocolonialism with a chilling drama set in West Africa staring Matt Dillon and Isaach de Bankole.

In Michał Ciechomsk's Kingdom (Poland, 2025) the apocalypse unfolds before our eyes as a country on the brink of war sees the rise of a paramilitary group recruiting men with dreams of power and eager to experience real violence in an unsettling and hyper-testosterone-fueled dystopia. Marc Ortiz Prades' debut feature film Els mals noms (Spain, 2025) demystifies the dark legend of "La Pastora" the story of Teresa Pla, a young intersex person raised as a girl who struggles to be recognized as a man within the archaic Spanish society of the early 20th century while being persecuted by guerrillas, bandits and the Civil Guard. 

Georgian director Alexandre Koberidze, one of the most prominent young directors in European cinema, will present Dry Leaf (Germany, Georgia, 2025) at the festival, a masterful film about time, memory and human bonds. Hlynur Pálmason will also be at the the festival with his film The Love That Remains (Iceland, 2025), a beautiful and tragicomic portrait of a marriage in decline in spite of a couple's efforts to capture everyday moments in the hopes of repairing their relationship.

In Ghost Elephants (USA, Angola, Namibia, 2025) veteran director Werner Herzog embarks on another of his adventures, which this time takes him to encounter the mysterious ghost elephants of Angola. Júlia de Paz Solvas' film La buena hija (Spain, Belgium, 2025) is a harrowing story about the aftermath of hidden violence and emotional abuse seen through the eyes of a teenage girl caught between her fascination with her artist father and the repercussions of his abuse.

Tickets

Tickets are €35 for six sessions and the VIP pass is €85 which includes access to all sessions at the CCCB, Aribau Multicines and Zumzeig (seat reservation required) and two invitations to the opening session and one to the closing session.

Participating venues include CCCB, Filmoteca de Catalunya, Zumzeig and Aribau Cinema. Most showings take place in original language with subtitles in either Catalan or Spanish, see the official website for details.

Spring Film Festivals in Barcelona

Barcelona boasts a wide variety of renowned film festivals each spring, and this year promises to be another spectacular edition. Check out our article Spring Film Festivals in Barcelona where you'll discover festivals dedicated to fashion docs, films inspired by literature and history, astounding cinematic works that delve into the creativity, mystery and resilience of the human brain and films that explore the LGBTIQ+ experience.

For more events check our online events calendar.