Jeremy Thomas and Anatoly Karpov, protagonists (for now) of the BCN Film Festival Sant Jordi

The Barcelona Sant Jordi International Film Festival is already advancing some of its content for its sixth edition, which will be held between April 21 and 29. Its director, Conxita Casanovas, has announced some of the titles in its official section and the tribute and presence of British producer Jeremy Thomas, pure old school, who has worked with directors such as Bertolucci, Cronenberg, Karel Reisz, Wim Wenders, Linklater or Jarmusch, and who has such important titles as The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Sheltering Sky, The Dreamers or Crash.

The essential idea of the BCN Film Fest is to establish that evident link between the cinematographic and the literary, and to do so not only in its selection of films, but also in coincidence with the aromas of books and roses of the Sant Jordi festivity. Among the titles already secured for this year's program stands out a new adaptation of Eugénie Grandet, directed by Marc Dugain based on Balzac's novel. And the presence of the great Patrice Leconte and his film Maigret, about George Simenon's peculiar detective played by Gérard Depardieu, kilos of acting talent.

Of special interest, within the official competition, are Oliver Stone's JFK Revisited, where, apparently, he provides new evidence that makes John F. Kennedy's assassination even more indecipherable, and Yvan Attal's film, Charlotte Gainsbourg's husband, titled Les choses humaines and based on Karine Tuil's novel of the same name, and naturally both Attal and Gainsbourg star in it.

Also in the competition is offered a genuine curiosity, The Phantom of the Open, a comedy based on the book by Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray about Maurice Flitcroft, a guy who, without having any idea how to play golf, managed to sneak into the British Open; a surprising comedy starring Mark Rylance.

And outside the official competition, a mix of jewel and extravagance, a Russian film titled The World Champion, directed by Aleksey Sidorov and focusing on the mythical and dramatic chess match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi; with the added incentive that Karpov himself will come to the Festival, and willing to play a multiple game against eight opponents. Few, it seems to us.

And finally, and also out of competition, Claire Simon's latest film, the surprising Vous ne désirez que moi, a passionate account of Marguerite Duras and her romance with Yan Andréa, a man forty years younger than the writer and with an almost destructive obsession that led him to novelize this story on which the film is now based. The great actress Emmanuelle Devos plays Duras.

The Festival organizers clarified that this first delivery of content and titles is only forty percent of what the program will be; and as for the presence of actors and directors during the Festival days, it will always depend on para-cinematic factors, not to say sanitary and environmental ones. Without a doubt, there will be a red carpet and great personalities to liven it up, although, for now, we can't think of anything more attractive than beating Anatoly Karpov. Who's in?