D’A Barcelona: A Conversation with Festival Director Carlos Ríos

Film critic Dimitra Bouras speaks with D’A Barcelona director Carlos Ríos about the festival’s auteur-driven identity, its curatorial philosophy, and the challenges of balancing artistic ambition with audience engagement.

The D’A Film Festival Barcelona, directed by Carlos Ríos since its inception, has established itself as a key platform for international auteur cinema without genre restrictions. Organised by Noucinemart, the festival’s 16th edition (March 19–29, 2026) presented 120 films across ten days, combining formally daring works with more accessible titles, while maintaining a strong commitment to local filmmaking.

Dimitra Bouras: Carlos Ríos, you are the director of the D’A Festival. What does “D’A” stand for?

Carlos Ríos: It comes from Catalan—like in French, we use the apostrophe. The “A” stands for “Auteurs.” We are an international auteur film festival, and with this name we avoid defining a specific genre. We are not thematic. We present films of all kinds—short and feature-length, documentary and fiction—as long as they are auteur-driven.

D.B.: How long have you been the director of the festival?

C.R.: Since the very first edition. We are now at the 16th. The festival is a private initiative, organised by a company with both public and private funding. It is not run by the City of Barcelona or the Catalan government, although they do support it.

D.B.: What is the company behind the festival?

C.R.: Noucinemart, a cultural enterprise that also distributes films and organises programming for cultural centres and open-air cinemas, depending on our partners’ needs.

D.B.: Do you distribute films shown at the festival?

C.R.: Not necessarily. We have distributed films by Albert Serra, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Bruno Dumont. Some screened at D’A, others premiered elsewhere. Our aim is to bring important international auteurs to Spanish audiences, always in original version with subtitles.

D.B.: How do you shape the festival’s selection?

C.R.: We are a ten-person committee with gender parity and diverse professional backgrounds, including critics. We watch films at festivals and those submitted to us. We aim for balance: between male and female directors, between countries, and between more experimental cinema and more accessible auteur works. The idea is to champion films we believe in.

D.B.: How many films are screened?

C.R.: Around 70 features and 50 shorts across different sections. We are a mid-sized festival, though we are considering reducing the number to allow more repeat screenings.

D.B.: The festival is now well established. What is the main challenge?

C.R.: Finding balance—between artistic quality and budget, between ambition and practical limits. We would like to invite more filmmakers and expand screenings, but resources are finite. The key challenge is to use those resources wisely while ensuring the programme attracts an audience. Auteur cinema always carries a certain risk.

D.B.: How do you address that?

C.R.: With a strong team and a carefully curated programme that balances debut films with more established names—retrospectives of filmmakers like Claire Denis or Christian Petzold, for example. Communication is also essential: we try to be open, accessible, and passionate rather than elitist.

D.B.: The festival receives public funding. Does that influence the inclusion of Spanish and Catalan films?

C.R.: Partly, yes. Promoting national and regional cinema is important, but it is also about building a local film culture. An international festival must also support its own filmmakers, give them visibility, and help create a community.

D.B.: Is that why you organise industry activities?

C.R.: Yes. For four days we host an industry lab for selected projects and professionals, alongside meetings between filmmakers and audiences.

D.B.: This year the festival hosted a FIPRESCI jury for the first time. What does that represent?

C.R.: Critics have always been present at the festival, but a FIPRESCI jury adds an international dimension and increases recognition for both the festival and the films in the programme.

Dimitra Bouras
©FIPRESCI 2026