Barcelona’s labyrinthine streets are the epitome of romantic city life – as long as you don’t live on them. But 27-year-old Mou does – he left his homeland as a 13-year-old and has since lived a homeless life around Las Ramblas. But Mou is not just streetwise, he is also a popular man and his friends’ friend. A love affair with a Spanish girl gives him hope of a new life – and a happy ending? – but the past and the mental pressures of an impossible situation catch up with his otherwise so positive spirit. At the same time hundreds of replicated products’ sellers are trying to survive by selling their products without permission in crowded tourist traps. The police tries to stop the selling violently.
Along the life of Mou, the film also centers around the idea how the dream of a city is very similar to everyone but in practice differs depending on your wealth and citizenship. While people with money use Barcelona as an amusement park, the poor have to try and survive on the crumbs of happiness the tourist masses leave behind. As the metal circulates and the tourist masses stroll the streets of Barcelona, the faiths of our protagonist are sealed in the shadows.
An upbeat film about one of Europe’s invisible lives, filmed at street-level in graphic black and white, reminiscent of the social-realist and political tradition of street photography. “Waiting for Barcelona” shows us a world of suffering and dreams in the outskirts of a city that’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
Direction: Juho-Pekka Tanskanen
Original Title: Barcelonaa odottamassa
Original Languages: English, French, Spanish, Wolof
Subtitles: English
Film Production Country: Finland