German Film Week in Barcelona

From june 6th to 9th, the Comèdia Cinema at Passeig de Gràcia, next to our historical Hotel Granvia, will be the venue for German Film Week, as the closing act for the German-Spain exchange event (being held on 4 and 5 June) which will bring a selection of five films from the 13th Madrid German Film Festival.

Among the films being screened we will be able to see Schlafkrankheit [Sleeping Sickness] by Ulrich Kölher, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, and the latest film by Chris Kraus, Poll. Kraus will also be in attendance at the festival, holding a post-film discussion.

Making up the rest of the programme we have historical films, films on contemporary issues and films set both inside and outside of Germany. Organised by the Goethe Institut Barcelona, this activity is one of the German Week in Barcelona, starting on June 3rd, where Open Air Cinema and performances of dance, live music and light installations, discussions, and stands on central issues of our future, children’s theater and culinary products from Germany will be shown. For three days, Passeig de Lluis Companys in Barcelona, becomes a journey of stands, stages and tents.

More inf@: Goethe Institut Barcelona.

Barcelona Sports Film Festival

The Barcelona Sports Film Festival, the only sports-themed cinema and TV festival in Spain, is set to take place in Barcelona between 17 and 21 May. Any audiovisual production with a sports theme can compete, whether it is an animated film, documentary, report, fiction film, promotional or advertising video.

Films will be screened at six different venues:

• Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch
• Centre Excursionista de Catalunya
• Sala d’Àmbit Cultural El Corte Inglés
• Ateneu Barcelonès
• CaixaFòrum
• Filmoteca de Catalunya

Apart from the film sessions the festival includes a whole series of parallel activities that aim to illustrate that sport is a sphere of activity capable of entering into a symbiotic relationship with art, philosophy and innovation.

More inf@: BCN Sports Film Festival

Barcelona International New Rose Competition

From 6 to 8 May the rose garden at Parc de Cervantes will be playing host to activities set around the latest edition of the Barcelona International New Rose Competition, to mark their first spring bloom.

A programme packed with activities such as an information session on roses, a culinary and floral-art demonstration and live music, plus the traditional popular vote for the Citizen Rose, invites city residents to come over and enjoy some of Barcelona’s most unique green spaces.

Last year, close to ten thousand visitors dropped by to see the rose garden in the Parc de Cervantes during the days of the rose competition.

The competition features six prizes in its official section: the main one is the special Barcelona prize for most outstanding rose. Seven further prizes will be awarded for all the varieties entered into the competition by citizen associations. As for the 2011 Citizen Rose, this will be decided by popular vote.

The seven prizes from the non-official section include a new one this year for best rose, the School Rose Prize, which will be voted for by children from the city’s schools.

The Barcelona International New Rose Competition was founded in 2001 to promote the rose garden and raise its public profile, faithful to the Barcelona rose tradition that dates back to the early decades of the last century.

A section of these gardens specially reserved for prize-winning roses from each of the competition’s editions has received considerable international acclaim.

The roses entered in the competition were created by plant breeders by crossing existing species. Never seen by the public before, these are varieties that have not yet been marketed. This year 61 rose varieties were presented at the rose competition, hailing from 16 plant breeders from 7 countries.

Mecal: International Short Film Festival of Barcelona

This year Mecal, the short film festival that originated 13 years ago, has as many as eight venues and it is as determined as ever to show the versatility and creativity to be found in short films.

The boom in shorts, partly explained by the quality of some of the more affordable digital devices around, is also reflected in the quantity of works received by the festival, nearly 3,500 this year. The final selection is split into three competition sections, with films from over 30 countries, and an even more eclectic fringe programme that combines cult shorts with angrier contemporary ones, as at previous festivals.

Discovering the audiovisual panorama of the Czech Republic, this year’s guest country, is one of the attractions this time round. The shorts that are going to be screened range from the best of the recent batch to film school productions.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhipln

Mecal 2011
XIII International Short Fim Festival of Barcelona
April, 8th – 17th
http://eng.mecalbcn.org/

Zombies: The Walking Dead take Barcelona

Last Tuesday, was presented the 29th International Comic Fair of Barcelona. The great appointment of the world of the comic will celebrate from 14 to 17 in April and it will take place again to the Hall number 8 of the Fira of Barcelona.

This year, the fair will tribute honors to zombies, one of the most influential element of popular culture, both today and traditionally. Àngel Sala, director of the world-known Sitges Fantastic Cinema Festival, will be in charge of the largest exhibit of the Comic Fair, entitled Zombies: Neither dead nor buried. Side activities related to zombies will also take place during the fair, such as makeup workshops, illustration masterclasses and roundtables.

The Comic Fair of Barcelona has an extensive list of foreign invited authors, that there includes names of the height of Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, creators of the acclaimed series Star City; the scriptwriter Garth Ennis with works like Preacher, The Authority or Crossed; Eddie Campbell, who will present detectives’ Black Diamond agency; Charlie Adlard, draftsman of The Walking Dead or the German author Reinhard Kleist, who will present a biography in cómic of Fidel Castro. France will be represented by stars of the height of the draftsman Arthur De Pins; Camille Jourdy, rewarded in the edition of 2010 of the Festival of Angulema and the recognized French author Edmond Baudoin. Without forgetting Italian authors as Luisa Zancanella, draftsman of Martin Mystère; Angelo Stano, graphical creator of Dylan Dog and Alfredo Castelli and Giancarlo Alesandrini, creators of Martin Mystère.

More inf@: www.ficomic.com

World Snowboard Championships

Barcelona is a joint venue for the 2011 World Snowboard Championships, which are being held in La Molina. On 15 January the opening ceremony and first event, the Big Air, will take place here. It is one of six events people will be able to watch at the championships and consists of snowboarders showing off their skills while leaping between 2.5 and 3.5 metres in the air and completing several rotations.

Palau Sant Jordi will be the setting for Big Air, the first event in the La Molina World Snowboard Championships, on 15 January, 2011. The championships are taking place between 14 and 22 January, with 400 participants from 40 countries.

B-Hotel, located in Plaza Espanya and with direct access to Palau Sant Jordi by using the scalators system in Montjuïc, is offering interesting Winter Promotions. Also on the slopes of Montjuïc, Hotel Paral·lel and Hotel Barcelona Universal welcome guests who want to discover Barcelona and enjoy a winter by the Mediterranean Sea.

Barcelona Christmas lights: Swicth ON

Yesterday, 2 December, when Barcelona’s streets are infused with the Christmas spirit. That’s the day for the traditional switching on of the city’s Christmas lights, when you can also visit the Plaza de Sant Jaume nativity scene.

This year’s novelties include even more streets with lights and a greater use of sustainable technology. In fact, for 36 days beginning 2 December, over 300 city venues and 60 km of the public highway, 15% more than in 2009, will be lit up until 10 pm from Sunday to Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday and until 1 am on 24, 25 and 31 December, and 5 January.

New streets with Christmas lights this year include Avenida del Paralelo, where the Music Hall will be lit up, Barceloneta, fish-shaped lights of different colours, Rambla del Raval and Passeig de Maragall.

Moreover, 98% will be LED lights, which reduce the voltage and produce better quality light. Despite covering more kilometres, these lights will produce a 40% saving in overall energy consumption.

The star of the lights, never better said, will be the Christmas Star. This is a giant decoration designed by Ramon Bigas and put up at twenty different city locations.

Shopping Night Barcelona

Passeig de Gràcia, the most glamourous and famous boulevard in Barcelona, will live a very special night on December 2nd. Our Hotel 1898 in Las Ramblas, the historical Hotel Granvía, and the recently refurbished Hotel Europark, are your best options to stay.

The Shopping Night Barcelona is an exclusive experience of shopping and night lifestyle in Passeig de Gràcia. Stores open their doors after hours –from 8 pm to 12 am– offering you a unique experience in one of the most specials sites in Barcelona. It’s a party where you can enjoy the shopping and the glamour.

International brands such as G-Star, Loewe, Lacoste or Yves Saint-Laurent are part of the collaborators, as well as Levi’s, Nike, Swarovski or Mango, just to name a few.

Besides shopping, many other activities will welcome you at Passeig de Gràcia, featuring fashion show-rooms, gastronomy experiences, art exhibitions and music. Designers Custo Barcelona and Xavier Mariscal will be active participants.

You can find related information at The Shopping Night website.

If you’re not infected, you’re not affected. AIDS Barcelona

Barcelona is joining forces with the anti-AIDS foundation: Fundació Lluita contra la Sida. Adopting the slogan “If you’re not infected, you’re not affected“, the foundation and City Council are launching an awareness and money-raising campaign.

Highlights include a Gala against AIDS on 1 December. This is the first time one of the most important charity events in the country is being held. Featuring many famous Spanish and international figures, it will aim to collect money to fund research and help projects for AIDS sufferers, activities the foundation has been carrying out for over fifteen years.

The gala merely signals the start to the campaign, under which the City Council will be expressing its support for taking on the illness and raising awareness of it among city residents and publicising the foundation’s solidarity work.

All money received from donations, bracelet sales and attending the gala dinner will go to Fundació Lluita contra la Sida research projects.

Varekai. Cirque du Soleil in Barcelona

Deep within a forest, at the summit of a volcano, exists an extraordinary world—a world where something else is possible. A world called Varekai.
The Cirque du Soleil’s latest show in Barcelona takes us into a kaleidoscopic world at the summit of a volcano, the setting for a wonderful, illogical adventure.

The word Varekai means “wherever” in the Romany language of the gypsies the universal wanderers. This production pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to the infinite passion of those whose quest takes them along the path that leads to Varekai.

Núñez i Navarro Hotels offers you nine hotels in Barcelona, centrally located, and directly connected to Varekai venue by metro. Your best option in Barcelona.

Where: Gran Carpa de la Plataforma del Zoo Marí (Fòrum)
<M> Maresme-Fòrum (L4)
More inf@ and Tickets: Varekai Website

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