The Coordinadora Catalana d'Entitats Budistes (CCEB) and the Dharma-Gaia Foundation (FDG), announce the second edition of the Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia (II FCBC) that will take place, once again, at the Verdi cinemas in the city of Barcelona, from 23 to 27 October 2024.
The Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia is a joint initiative of the Coordinadora Catalana d'Entitats Budistes and the Dharma-Gaia Foundation. It is organized by Coordinadora Catalana d'Entitats Budistes, with the Dharma-Gaia Foundation as official sponsor, both non-profit organizations. The Buddhist Film Foundation (BFF), an institution that organizes the International Buddhist Film Festival held in major cities around the world, is also an important collaborator, and has the support of the Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya. In the future, the organizers of the FCBC and the BFI intend to bring the international Festival to the city of Barcelona.
With the aim of consolidating itself as a biennial event, the festival will showcase a meticulously curated selection of recent or unreleased films or documentaries in Catalonia. The aim is to familiarize the Catalan public with Buddhism and its fundamental values and principles, such as non-violence, compassion, interdependence of all beings and protection of the environment.
The leadership team of the second edition of the Festival de Cinema Budista de Catalunya is made up entirely of women, including its two co-directors: Montse Castellà, representing the CCEB, and Fina Íñiguez, representing the FDG.
Within the framework of this article, we had the opportunity to interview Fina Íñiguez:
Buddhistdoor in English: What are your expectations for the second edition of the Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia? How will this edition differ from the first one? What improvements have been implemented?
Fina Íñiguez: We start from a very positive experience: in the first edition we hung the "sold out" sign in all sessions and we had a wide audience participation in the debates after the screenings. In this second edition we aspire not only to repeat the success of the first edition, but to increase it, making known this initiative to disseminate Buddhism and its values to an even wider audience, nationally and internationally.
Compared to the first edition, there are no substantial changes in terms of format. It will continue to be a non-competitive festival that for five days will screen eight recently produced films, with motivating stories and impeccable cinematographic quality, offering at least four double sessions, some followed by colloquiums with specialists in the topics presented.
In terms of improvements, to use a soccer expression, "the team that wins, doesn't touch". We are a small team, with a management formed by four enthusiastic women and we are supported by professionals with the same motivation: to offer high quality films and documentaries through different views on the Buddhist philosophy of life with the aim that this seed germinates and multiplies reaching as many people as possible.
Buddhistdoor: In the context of today's world, characterized by war, climate crisis and growing spiritual unrest, what do you see as Buddhism's contribution to the contemporary world?
FI: Nonviolence, meditation for peace of mind, respect for all beings and the environment are possibly some of the values most closely linked to Buddhism in general. But impermanence is perhaps one of the most important concepts that Buddhism has contributed to the understanding of reality, along with the concept that nothing exists independently. We are part of a huge interconnected web in this world. Everything is constantly changing and changes can be for the better, provided there is a motivation to do so.
War conflicts or environmental destruction have at least one common element: selfish and egocentric attitudes, immediatists, for the benefit of the few and at the expense of the suffering of the many. As we are seeing, a war between two countries inevitably ends up having an impact on the rest of the world.
Nothing changes suddenly. Buddhism has no magic formula, but it offers tools to promote change through self-knowledge, that is, to influence the collective from the individual. In other words, self-knowledge as a starting point for each person to reconnect with their true compassionate nature, not only for their own benefit, but also for the benefit of others, can be a good start to change paradigms.
We also had the opportunity to interview Montse Castellà, vice-president of CCEB and president of Sakyadhita Spain, who kindly answered our questions:
Buddhistdoor en Español: What criteria do you use to select the films to be screened at the festival? Is there a message you seek to convey through the selected films?
Montse Castellà: In the selection we take into account that the films should be of recent creation but above all, the most important thing when selecting the films is that they really transmit the spiritual values of Buddhism and not necessarily from a monastic environment. We intend to show good and well-told stories, which also convey a message of Buddhist inspiration, whether through a documentary or a fiction film, with real characters and scenarios, or interpreting situations that can reach a wide audience, Buddhist and non-Buddhist.
In the selection we also try to have diversity in relation to the different Buddhist traditions. And one aspect, also relevant in the selection, is parity, in which there are films directed by women.
The message? We would love for audiences to not only enjoy the cinema experience, but to be able to take home meaningful content.
Festival target audience
The II Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia is aimed at a wide audience: general public, Buddhists and non-Buddhists, university students, families, young people and people of any age and condition who may be inspired by the Buddhist philosophy of life.
The Festival will be opened by a prominent director in the field of international Buddhist cinema. In the 2022 edition, Doris Dörrie, who presented her award-winning film Memories from Fukushima(Grüße aus Fukushima), will be the guest of honor.
In addition to the guest of honor, there will also be guests who will participate in the discussions scheduled for some of the sessions.
To warm up, off-festival activities are planned by a significant representation of the thirty-two Buddhist centers that make up the CCEB and represent different traditions. They will offer a varied program at their sites, with meditation sessions, workshops, film forums, lectures and open doors.
We talked with Montse Castellà to get more information about the off and parallel activities that will take place during the II Festival of Buddhist Cinema of Catalonia (FCBC).
BDE: Could you tell us about the activities that will take place during the Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia? How do these activities complement the film screenings and what do you hope to achieve with them?
MC: There will be off and parallel activities. The off activities will take place before the beginning of the Festival and will be organized by the same Buddhist entities promoting the Festival, so the general public will have the opportunity to have a contact with the different Buddhist traditions of our country. These activities will also serve as a loudspeaker to announce the Festival.
During the Festival there will also be some parallel activities, ranging from surprise flashmobs to announced events, such as musical performances or an invitation to walk meditation. Actions that we will be specifying, as we define the line-up.
See more:
First Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia
Festival de Cinema Budista de Catalunya (Facebook)
Coordinadora Catalana d'Entitats Budistes (Catalan Coordination of Buddhist Entities)
Related articles in from BDE
Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia (FCBC)
Special edition: "Buddhism and cinema".
Editorial introduction to the special issue: "Buddhism and Cinema".
Related articles in BDG
Buddhism in Barcelona: The First Buddhist Film Festival in Catalonia
Catalan Coordination of Buddhist Entities (CCEB)
It is a non-profit association that was created in 2007 to coordinate and create synergies between Buddhist entities and centers in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands with the aim of presenting and representing Buddhism in the society in which, for forty years, it has been taking root. The CCEB has about thirty members, from different traditions: Zen, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, among others.
Dharma-Gaia Foundation (FDG)
It is a private, non-profit cultural foundation, committed to the environment, which promotes, among other activities, university academic courses, conferences and seminars, exhibitions, production of videos and documentaries, publication or co-publication of books on Buddhism. It organizes courses and academic publications on Buddhism in collaboration with the University Rovira i Virgili, is a collaborating entity of the magazine Buddhistdoor in Spanish, and develops projects in Spain and Latin America.
Buddhist Film Foundation (BFF)
It is the organizing entity of the International Buddhist Film Festival, based in Oakland, California, USA, and since 2003 has been present in different corners of the world, such as Los Angeles, Washington DC, London, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Singapore, Thailand, among others. In the future, the organizers of BFF intend to bring their international festival to Barcelona.
