Isona Admetlla, interview with the co-curator of the Focus Catalonia at the 39th Bolzano Film Festival

April 15, 2026

Focus Catalonia, Isona Admetlla: "Diversity and freedom, that's the common denominator of Catalan cinema"

Isona Admetlla, interview with the co-curator of the Focus Catalonia at the 39th Bolzano Film Festival Chiara Nicoletti

Podcast | Download

Every year, the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen dedicates an important space to a region that resonates with the identity of South Tyrol , border regions with intricate roots, complex histories and layered identities. This year, the focus falls on Catalonia, curated by Vincenzo Bugno, Isona Admetlla and Ricardo Apilánez. A territory with a strong and distinctive identity, a language spoken by millions and a remarkably dynamic film industry, Catalonia is one of the most creative regions in European cinema. The selection presents seven works spanning documentary, fiction and hybrid forms, with films by Andrés Duque, Virginia García del Pino, José Luis Guerín, Neus Ballús, Carla Simón and Lav Diaz, alongside a performance by Marta Andreu — Catalan and cosmopolitan, shaman and philosopher of documentary.

A natural connection

For Isona Admetlla, the only Catalan-born and Catalan-speaking member of the curatorial team, this focus was both a professional opportunity and something deeply personal. “It’s home,” she says simply. But beyond the personal connection, she sees strong parallels between Catalonia and South Tyrol, two regions with a distinctive identity, a minority language and a complex relationship with the larger political entities that surround them. “From the heart, it felt like a very strong connection.” Catalan cinema, she adds, reflects the diversity of the people who make it — different immigration waves, different perspectives, all held together by a healthy industry environment that supports filmmaking in a genuinely free way.

The holy trilogy of Catalan cinema

What makes Catalan cinema so vital? Isona Admetlla points to what she calls a holy trilogy: strong public financing through the ICEC, Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals, one of only two regions in Spain with a minority co-production scheme; a powerful promotional body in Catalan Films; and a network of excellent film schools that have helped build an entire ecosystem over decades. The result is an industry that can support ambitious, artistically distinctive work while remaining open to international co-production and collaboration.

A selection built on artistic identity

In building the selection, the curators were guided by the BFFB’s own curatorial line: films with a strong artistic identity, speaking from their community but in very contemporary languages. “The filmmakers presented in this edition flow from essay to documentary to fiction,” says Isona Admetlla, “doing a very special kind of exploration and I think this is one of the most special characteristics of the selection.” The inclusion of Lav Diaz, not Catalan but a filmmaker whose work has been supported by Catalan institutions and produced in co-production with Albert Serra’s company is a perfect example of this openness. “Albert Serra manages to make the films he wants in his very own way,” she says. “At the end there is a common language, which is cinema.”

Freedom as a common denominator

Asked whether there is a common denominator among Catalan filmmakers, Isona Admetlla is clear: diversity and freedom. “This healthy environment exists because it operates within a democracy,” she says, and having spent years at the World Cinema Fund working with filmmakers in difficult situations, under dictatorship and censorship, she knows exactly what the alternative looks like. Freedom, in this context, is not a given. It is something to be valued, protected and used well.

The transformation potential of cinema

The conversation ends on a broader question: what is the role of cinema today, at a moment when European film is increasingly assuming the responsibility of raising awareness and sparking change? For Isona Admetlla, this is precisely the direction her own research is pointing. “Stories can help to shape minds and to spark changes,” she says, “and that is a big responsibility for filmmakers and for the institutions that support them.” She believes a new wave is coming, in European and world cinema, that will explore the transformation potential of film more and more. “It is more necessary than ever,” she says. “And needed.”, we add.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Guest

Isona Admetlla

Film

Festival

Bolzano Film Festival

Rate it