La Mercè 2022. From 23 to 26 September

David de las Heras, the creator of this year's la Mercè poster, brings together three generations of Barcelona residents in one festival image.

David de las Heras was born in Bilbao in 1984, and he came to Barcelona to train at one of most renowned illustration schools in Spain, the Escola Massana. He then lived in Madrid for a few years, but ended up returning to the city. During the years he has lived in the Catalan capital, he has experienced not one, but many editions of Barcelona’s big annual festival, or Festa Major. 
 

The Barcelona-based film-maker, whose work has marked a watershed in Catalan cinema with two films screened at the world's most prestigious film festivals and events, will be the opening speaker at this year’s la Mercè festival.

Sometimes it's not what you look at that matters, but how you look at it. And here, possibly, lies the key to the success of Alcarràs, a film shot in Catalan at a small location in the Segrià county which was screened at the last edition of the Berlin Film Festival and carried away a Golden Bear for best film.

With the language of music, cinema, dance and even puppets. These are just some of the ways in which la Mercè speaks to you about Rome, this year’s guest city at the Festa Major.