The new Buddhist Film Festival of Catalonia (Festival de Cinema Budista de Catalunya, or FCBC) runs October 19–23 in Barcelona. Organized by a consortium of Buddhist organizations there, Catalan Coordinator of Buddhist Entities (Coordinadora Catalana d’Entitats Budistes, or CCEB), this will be the very first Buddhist film festival in all of Spain. The festival is supported by Dharma Gaia Foundation (Fundació Dharma-Gaia, or FDG) and the Barcelona City Council. The International Buddhist Film Festival (IBFF) programmed this event on behalf of CCEB.
The FCBC will be presented at the prestigious Cinemas Verdi Park in Barcelona. Eight films will be screened, with Opening Night featuring Germany-based director Doris Dörrie (Enlightenment Guaranteed, Cherry Blossoms) in person to present her Greetings from Fukushima. Other selections include Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Lopon, Descending the Mountain, Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache, The Geshema Is Born, and Dear Earth, among others, all from recent IBFF or IBFF-programmed BuddhaFest programs. All films will be subtitled in Spanish or Catalan. Visit the FCBC site for program and schedule information.
In addition to the screenings, there will also be parallel activities in various localities in the Catalan region, programmed by the various CCEB member entities, including meditation sessions, workshops for boys and girls, film forums, talks, and open doors.
The Catalan Coordinator of Buddhist Entities is a nonprofit association that brings together the communities of all Buddhist traditions in the Catalan territory. It was born in 2007 to coordinate and create synergies between the Buddhist entities and centers of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands with the aim of presenting and representing Buddhism in the society where, for forty years, it has taken root. About thirty organizations from different traditions form the CCEB: Zen, Tibetan, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese, among others.
This festival is made possible in part thanks to the support of the Dharma-Gaia Foundation (FDG), a private, nonprofit cultural entity dedicated to the spread of Buddhism and very committed to the environment. FDG promotes various academic activities with Catalan universities, as well as conferences; exhibitions; production of videos, documentaries, and publications about Buddhism; contributing content to the Buddhistdoor magazine (in Spanish and English); and developing projects in Spain and Latin America.
