Gaudí Cycle brings Catalan cinema to more than 4,600 young people

The Gaudí Cycle Educational Project continues to grow with a clear mission: to bring Catalan cinema closer to boys and girls between 12 and 18 years old from the towns that are members of the Gaudí Cycle network, promoting culture, creativity, and the habit of enjoying and learning through cinema. Beyond simply watching films and reflecting and discussing social, cultural, and human issues that permeate the stories we see on screen, the project invites young people to discover the cinema in their town, which they have often never visited.

With this initiative, the Catalan Film Academy introduces young Catalans to the cinema produced in Catalonia, as well as to the professionals behind the films. These often unknown professions can awaken vocations, while helping adolescents to notice different aspects of the films offered by the program: how the Republican professor ofThe teacher who promised the sea?; What does it mean to give voice to animated characters? Robot Dreams?; how some parts of Torre Baró de were builtThe 47?; How are all the toys that appear in Summer 1993?, or how intimate scenes with minors were worked on in Creature?

Directors, screenwriters, heads of visual effects, editors and those responsible for photography direction, explain their work to the students before going to the cinema room and invite them to watch some scenes with glasses that they had never worn before.

The films that make up the catalogue (47, Robot Dreams, The Master Who Promised the Sea, Creature, Life Without Sara Amat, Summer 1993, and Mediterranean) allow for the development of topics such as historical memory, grief, emotional relationships, migration, female desire, and neighborhood struggles. They are accompanied by educational materials so that teachers can work in the classroom before and after going to the cinema. In addition, after the screening and still in the same cinema, students participate in an image association activity that allows them to discuss and reflect on all these issues.

One of the participating students last year, from the Can Periquet Institute in Palau-solità i Plegamans, explained that during the activity, her classmates were able to express their opinions and points of view on the film: "I was able to discover the points of view of my classmates and realize things that were detailed during the activity."

An educational project with growing demand

Since its inception, the project has continued to grow: in the 2024-2025 academic year, 19 sessions were held with a total of 2,644 young people participating, and in just a year and a half, they have reached 4,672 young people spread across 38 sessions held throughout Catalonia. Demand for this 2025-2026 academic year "already exceeds expectations," assures the Gaudí Cycle. The data demonstrates the potential of our cinema to foster social and cultural dialogue in the classroom, and "hopefully, it will serve to ignite the flame in adolescents to dedicate themselves to this exciting profession," they explain. Be that as it may, thanks to the Gaudí Cycle's Educational Project, it will be a success if one in ten young people returns to their town's cinema or sees a Catalan film again this year.

You will find more information at www.ciclegaudi.cat