Dart Festival 2025 launches its core program, bringing new documentaries, activism and cutting-edge visual narratives

The 9th edition of Dart, Barcelona’s International Film and Art Festival and the only festival in Spain exclusively dedicated to the visual arts, expands its main programming from 11 to 13 December at Mooby Bosque Cinema. Following the European premiere of “ASCO: Without Permission” on 10 December, the festival now moves into its most substantial phase, showcasing new releases, thematic screenings and professional activities that define this year’s edition.

From 11 December onwards, Dart places a strong emphasis on the intersection of art and activism. The programme features documentaries exploring the cultural and political power of contemporary artistic practices: from forbidden art in Brazilian favelas, to artistic responses to climate change, to portraits of transformative figures such as Simone de Beauvoir and Mierle Laderman Ukeles, whose reconceptualisation of domestic labour as performance marked a turning point in art history.

The festival also highlights the growing genre of the art thriller. Key titles include “Minted”, a deep dive into the volatile world of NFTs; “LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption”, about the criminal network involved in looting Cambodian temples; and “The Sleeper. The Lost Caravaggio”, a gripping investigation into a painting auctioned for 1,500 euros that later reached an estimated value of nearly 30 million.

Architecture is another central theme beginning on 11 December. The documentary “Miralles” explores the vision of Enric Miralles, while four films by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine revisit architectural representation by placing lived experience at the forefront.

Decolonial narratives surface across a number of titles, including the short-film programme “Autochtonies des Amèriques”, “Memories of Love Returned” and “Future History: An Untold Legacy of Ethiopian Resistance”, which recover voices and histories often excluded from mainstream accounts.

The Spanish section includes films dedicated to Oscar Tusquets, Andy Warhol’s 1983 visit to Madrid, Eduardo Chillida, and the influential Barcelona street artist EL XUPET NEGRE.

Within Dart Lab, the festival hosts major parallel events. On Thursday 11 December at 19:00, the Climate Biennial will present “Climate Art”, a roundtable focused on the role of art in the environmental crisis. Additional activities include the premiere of “Espacio 10 / Espacio 13. Radical Risk” and a conversation between Wendimagegn Belete and Saiba Bayo on Pan-African culture at MACBA.

The closing night will take place on Saturday 13 December at 21:30 with “The Residents: Barking in the Dark”, by Marie Losier, produced in collaboration with the In-Edit Festival. The award-winning documentaries of this edition will also be announced.

From 18 December to 18 January, the festival’s online platform on CaixaForum+ will feature selected titles and three exclusive films by Bêka and Lemoine: “Koolhaas Houselife”, “Tokyo Ride” and “Barbicania”.

Dart 2025 reaffirms its mission to map contemporary tensions between art, politics, memory and emerging visual languages, consolidating its relevance for artists, scholars, cinephiles and cultural audiences worldwide.