L’heure d’hiver 2026 : BARCELONE

Every year, L’Heure d’Hiver invites you to explore a Mediterranean city through the prism of cinema, revealing its many facets, from history to culture. For this 8th edition, we set our sights on Barcelona, capital of Catalonia and a city magnified by Gaudí.

Barcelona is a world city told through its streets, squares, working-class neighborhoods and lively boulevards. It has become a true open-air film set for both local and international filmmakers: from classics such as Apartado de correos 1001 to emblematic works by Pedro Almodóvar (Todo sobre mi madre) and Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge espagnole).

This edition offers a deep dive into the life of the city, from its ordinary residents (Sis dies corrents, Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake), to urban and social transformations (City for Sale, La Plaga, En Construcción), without overlooking more intimate and dramatic narratives (Biutiful). It also highlights queer cinema, with films such as Todo sobre mi madre, Alteritats and ¡Corten!, and bears witness to the diversity of Catalan filmmaking: half of the directors in this edition are women.

The documentaries and fiction films of L’Heure d’Hiver paint a plural portrait of Barcelona: center and periphery, past and present, humor, emotion and reflection intertwine to reveal the city in all its complexity.

Alongside the film festival, a special exhibition presents four archival videos by the Video-Nou collective, filmed in the 1970s, documenting the social and cultural life of Barcelona at that time. Alongside them, two contemporary experimental films offer a fresh perspective on the city, rediscovering its neighborhoods and inhabitants in a new light.

Through this selection of films and the exhibition, we aim not only to celebrate Barcelona’s cinematic heritage, but also to question the contemporary issues shaping the city: urban transformations, social movements, and the ways its inhabitants live — and resist — these changes.