October Film Festivals in and around Barcelona

October’s calendar is packed with an impressive list of film festivals in and around the city. You’ll find gritty investigative documentaries at CLAM International Social Film Festival, hair-raising fantasy and horror at Sitges International Film Festival, hauntingly beautiful dance films at Choreoscope, hardcore music docs at IN-EDIT and so much more!

Barcelona Jewish Film Festival

October 4-31, 2023, Barcelona

Barcelona’s Festival Cinema Jueu is dedicated exclusively to celebrating the artistry and creativity of Jewish culture, which is itself inextricably bound to the city and to Spain. Each year the festival delivers a diverse series of cinematic and artistic projects exploring a variety of genres and topics in great depth: from documentaries and feature films to independent shorts and audiovisual pieces.

On the program this year are Gad Elmaleh’s semi-documentary, semi-autobiographical film Reste un peu (France, 2022); Luis Pérez Bordoy’s documentary El alemán de la tienda de fotos (Spain, 2022); Yariv Mozer’s chilling investigative documentary The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes (Israel, 2023); and Jolanta Dylewska and Andrzej Wajda's Marek Edelman… and There Was Love in the Ghetto (Poland, Germany, 2019), a moving documentary about romance in the Warsaw Ghetto, as told by Marek Edelman, activist, surgeon and former commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Films are screened in original version with Catalan or Spanish subtitles. You can get tickets at Filmoteca de Catalunya (€4 a session) and Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria (€3 a session). You can also catch the festival in November from the 9th to the 16th in Girona at Cinemes Truffaut Girona. fcjbarcelona.org

Sitges International Film Festival

October 5-15, 2023, Sitges

Sitges turns into a film lover’s paradise for a week of screenings, exhibitions and presentations of fantasy films from across the world. With a solid track record, the Sitges International Film Festival offers a stimulating framework for meetings, exhibitions, presentations and screenings. Born in 1968 as the 1st International Week of Fantasy and Horror Movies, today the festival is an essential rendezvous for movie lovers and audiences eager to come into contact with new tendencies and technologies in film and the audiovisual world. In addition to Paco Plaza's return home in order to present the opening film Sister Death, this year's festival also features the presence of highly acclaimed names like Pablo Berger, Carlota Pereda and Álex de la Iglesia.

Films will be screened at the Hotel Meliá Sitges. Tickets start at €5.50 a session and can be purchased online at sitgesfilmfestival.com.

IndieFest, Barcelona Indigenous Film Festival

October 11-22, 2023, Barcelona

IndiFest, Festival de Cine Indígena de Barcelona gives indigenous peoples a voice on the creative scene, allowing them to bring their demands for compliance with their internationally-recognized rights to a wider audience. The festival advocates for political and social mobilization, with activities that range from audiovisual projections to workshops, talks and more, giving local residents the opportunity to discover the different perspectives, problems, struggles and proposals for change that impact indigenous communities.

This edition is focused on the climate emergency, emphasizing through cinema how the ways of living of indigenous peoples are linked to the preservation of the environment, biodiversity and nature. This year's program opens with We Are Guardians (USA, Brazil, 2023), a moving portrait of a kaleidoscope of characters and perspectives striving to save what remains of the Brazilian Amazon.

Most films will be screened at Cinemes Girona with additional showings at Ateneu del Raval, Filmoteca de Catalunya, Nau Bòstik, Ágora Juan Andrés Benítez, El Mercat Cultural de Vallvidrera as well as Cinema Catalunya in Terrassa, MAC Museu d'Art de Cerdanyola in Cerdanyola del Vallès and Sala Santa Llúciain Reus. Tickets are free, but a donation is requested, and you can get them on the festival website. indifest.org

CLAM International Social Film Festival

October 12-22, 2023, Manresa, Navarcles, St Fruitós de Bages

The International Social Film Festival in Catalunya (CLAM) showcases high-quality films committed to real life—films that shine a light on solidarity, human and civil rights, and serve as a point of reflection and debate on social issues. Numerous film screenings are complemented by parallel activities from a range artistic and cultural disciplines, including lectures, conferences, exhibitions, professional master-classes, theater performances and concerts.

A few of the films on this year's program are Kokomo City (US, 2023), D. Smith's gritty documentary that tells the perilous and raw stories of four Black transgender sex workers through intimate and candid interviews; Club Zero (France, UK, 2023), Jessica Hausner's psychological thriller portraying a teacher at an elite school who forms a close bond with five students that ends up taking a dangerous turn; and Tran Anh Hung's historical romantic drama La Passion de Dodin Bouffant (France, 2023), starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel, is an exquisitely shot foodie film that tells the story of Eugenie, an esteemed cook, and Dodin, the fine gourmet she has been working for over the last 20 years.

Films will be screened at Multicines Bages Centre, Manresa; Auditori Agustí Soler i Mas, Navarcles; and Teatre Casal Cultural, St Fruitós de Bages. Tickets can be purchased at individual venues, see the festival website for details: clamfestival.org.

Serielizados Fest

October 17-21, 2023, Barcelona

While not a film festival, we think Serielizados Fest deserves a spot on our list because it debuts top-rate original series and documentaries that have triumphed on television and at festivals around the world. This year’s edition opens with the world premiere of the dramatic comedy Això no és Suècia, co-directed by Mar Coll and Aina Clotet. National titles premiering with the presence of their creators include: La Mesías, the new series by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, Déjate ver by Álvaro Carmona and Berto Romero’s debut in the horror genre with El otro lado. Other series premieres include the latest season of Fear the Walking Dead, Noche de chicas, Roni and Fanzilona. 

Jesse Amstrong, British creator and showrunner of Succession is the festival's featured guest, and you'll have the opportunity to see Peep Show, the first series of the well-known screenwriter. Armstrong will spend some time with the audience to talk about his career and the process behind the success of Succession, which recently ended its run on HBO.

Screenings will be held at the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona (CCCB), Casa Seat, Sala Phenomena, Auditori Blanquerna and Sala Mompou (SGAE). Tickets are €6 a session, or you can buy packs for multiple sessions starting at €15 for three sessions, or €24 for five, and they can be shared among friends and family. serielizados.com

Choreoscope, Barcelona Dance Film Festival

October 18-22, 2023, Barcelona 

Choreoscope, Barcelona Dance Film Festival is dedicated not only to those passionate about dance, but also to those who enjoy quality cinema. At this year’s festival you can catch live dance performances alongside cinematic gems like Samantha Shay’s hauntingly beautiful Mother Melancholia (Germany, Iceland, 2022) and Kite Zo A (Haiti, Canada, 2022) Kaveh Nabatian’s rich sensory film about Haitian rituals with poets, dancers, musicians, fishermen, extreme skaters and voodoo priests. 

Films will be screened at Filmoteca de Catalunya and Cinema Maldà. Tickets are €5 a screening, or for €23 you can have access to all showings at Cinema Maldà plus a tote bag, festival poster and a beer at Candy Darling in the Twerking Queen session. choreoscope.com

FILMETS, Badalona Short Film Festival

October 20-28, 2023, Badalona, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona

FILMETS, Badalona Short Film Festival was born in 2001 and since then it has taken its place on the international festival stage as a meeting point between filmmakers and a loyal audience. Marking 49 years, the festival opens with seven short films including the comedy-drama from Ross White and Tom Berkeley An Irish Goodbye (Ireland, 2022) which won the Oscar this year for best live action short and the prestigious British BAFTA award for best fiction; and Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles, by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine, 2022), an impressive documentary about the daily reality of the war in Ukraine that tells the story of sculptors that used to make religious statues who now build anti-tank obstacles to help fend off the Russian invasion. The opening evening will also be a tribute to the filmmaker Carla Simón, who will receive the Venus of Honor from FILMETS. 

Films will be screened at Teatre Zorrilla, Badalona; Cinemes Can Castellet, Sant Boi de Llobregat; and Institut français de Barcelona, Barcelona. The complete festival program will soon be announced on the festival website at festivalfilmets.cat.

Asian Film Festival Barcelona

October 25-November 5, 2023, Barcelona

The Asian Film Festival Barcelona is back for its 11th edition with a program that includes more than a hundred films from over 25 countries in Asia and the Pacific region. Representing the geographical, political, economic and cultural diversity of a vast, multifaceted continent, Asian cinema explores historical narrative, gender issues and drama in all its dimensions. Bringing films from different cultures and ethnicities from across Central Asia, South-East Asia and Pacific Asia, the festival brings audiences on a journey from the corners of Kazakhstan to Iran, from Mongolia to the Philippines and all the way to New Zealand.

Films will be screened at Filmoteca de Catalunya, Cinemas Girona, Phenomena, CaixaForum and Zumzeig. The 2023 festival program has not yet been released, but will soon be announced on the festival website. asianfilmfestival.barcelona

IN-EDIT International Music Documentary Film Festival

October 26-November 5, 2023, Barcelona

Bringing together the best of the audio-visual and musical sectors, IN-EDIT Barcelona is the most successful music documentary film festival in the world. The 21st edition features Andrew Reich's Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, (USA, 2022) a film in praise of the band started by "freak brothers" Jeff and Steve McDonald—one of the most unique and influential American rock bands of the past four decades; Jesse Rudoy's Dusty & Stones (USA, 2022) tells the exciting pilgrimage of two country music worshipers from Swaziland to the genre’s ancestral heart, Texas; Roddy Bogawa and Storm Thorgerson's Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd (UK, 2023) explores the life of Syd Barrett: singer, guitarist, songwriter and leader of the early Pink Floyd, until his already fragile mental health deteriorated thanks to hallucinogenic drug use; and Paco Bech's Riqueni (Spain, 2023) portrays the shocking battle of the master of flamenco guitar Rafael Riqueni and his struggles with alcoholism and his fragile mental health.

Films will be screened at Aribau Multicines. Tickets are €9 for individual showings, or you can buy packs for multiple sessions starting at €35 for five screenings, €52 for eight and €74 for 12, and can be shared. Purchase tickets and check out the festival’s full program online at es.in-edit.org.