Entre 2 Gegants (2011) Online

An emotional journey, brought all the more to life with colourful images of Catalan traditions – sardanes, gegants, trabucaires, castells – along with interviews filmed outdoors during the festivals of Sant Jordi in the town of Sant Cugat – southern side of the Pyrenees – and the Festa Catalana held in the village of Banyuls, on the northern side of the Pyrenees. The car journey lasts an hour and 20 minutes, the same length of time as the film itself. It was filmed in real time during the trip to the prize giving ceremony, and sees Mariel speaking about her arrival in Catalonia twenty years back, and how she learned to love the language and culture that she adopted over the years.

Nowadays everyone knows Barça, and all visitors to Barcelona have taken a photo of the Sagrada Familia. However, not many notice when the people of this region – and part of south-western France – frown when foreigners refer to them as Spanish or French. This 1000-year old language and this culture have been persecuted and prohibited for three centuries. And what about the current situation? How many people know that a good handful of the European Union's official languages are actually spoken by fewer people than those who speak Catalan? Does anyone realise that this language is not officially recognised by the EU? This is a film which delves into feelings, music, poetry, traditions and it deals with normal folk. It isn't about ideology, and much less about race: there is no such thing as a Catalan ethnic group. In fact, anyone who wishes to can be Catalan, no matter what religion or place of origin they come from or are part of. Being Catalan is to love and protect this ancient culture.