FANCINE WILL CELEBRATE ITS 33rd EDITION FROM 8 TO 16 OF NOVEMBER UNDER THE MOTTO “HOME SWEET HOME”
The film festival of the University of Málaga publishes its promotional poster, as well as the works for the previous screening taking place in the cultural space “Contenedor Cultural”
As the saying goes: “Home, …” sweet home? With this particular and mocking premise, the fantasy film festival of the University of Málaga (UMA) presented last Thursday the promotional poster of its new edition, the 33rd, that will take place from 8 to 16 of November with the Albéniz cinema as the main venue, as well as in various university spaces. As usual, Fancine has chosen a present-day topic for its new edition. A topic that demonstrates its commitment with social concerns and everyday issues: housing. Thus, the festival will make use of the English saying “Home, sweet home”—in English, in order to emphasize the international nature of the event— as the leitmotiv of its next birthday, that is already considered an important date on the Autumn events calendar of the Spanish city.
With this, Fancine wants to focus the contents of the upcoming event around this concept, as an answer to current issues that affect citizens and generate discussion: the rise in house prices and rentals, housing demand, property speculation, the eviction problem or the boom of touristic apartments. The festival will display this situation through a fantastic approach, not only with stories about haunted houses, inhospitable places, panic rooms or punishment rooms, but also from a personal and private point of view, like neighbours quarrels, communities or atypical and picturesque residences turned into homes, be them boats, caves or rockets.
This idea is once again illustrated by the design team of the Vice-rectorate for Culture of the UMA, with Professor Agustín Linares in the lead. For this edition, to match the current technological trend, the poster was developed based on a sketch generated with Artificial Intelligence, a symbolic gesture that reflects the interest of the gala for innovation and avant-garde. This sketch was later improved by the creative team giving it its own style, one that brings back to the mid-twentieth century comics, with dull colours as a tribute to this time’s traditional and rudimentary sci-fi.
The elements of the composition allude to common knowledge cinematographic references, the prominent role is given to the wood cabin, a mythical scene that has served as a unique setting for many iconic works of this genre, such as Cabin in the Woods or Evil Dead. This design also shows a local component, with the colours of Málaga’s flag in the title, and a hidden symbol for the most loyal “fanciners” to find, a black cat that reminds of Bad Luck, Fancine’s hallmark maneki-neko.
“Camino a Fancine”
The fantasy film festival of the University of Málaga also presented the first confirmed works for the previous screening “Camino a Fancine”, an activity prior to the celebration of the 33rd edition, that will be held in the cultural space “Contenedor Cultural” every Tuesday through October, with free entry until full capacity is reached. This schedule will offer a selection of films never shown before in Fancine, which match the form and content of Fancine’s spirit, the festival settled for this works for their connection with this year’s topic and their reinterpretation of “house” and “home”.
This year, the opening film will be The Lighthouse, the praised black and white work of Robert Eggers starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lightkeepers that go crazy after a storm isolates them on a faraway island. The following week’s film will be Black Phone, a terrifying work directed by Scott Derrickson with Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames as leading roles. Kidnapping, torture and a touch of supernatural come together in this story, only suitable for extreme horror lovers.
The Raid: Redemption will follow, an Indonesian production from 2011 starring Iko Uwais in a brutal story with a lot of action that shows the fight between Special Forces agents and hitmen and drug traffickers inside a building that is used as a shelter by the most dangerous criminals of Jakarta. And as a tribute to 80s slashers, Fancine will show The House of the Devil, from Ti West, with plenty of paranormal events in haunted houses, demonic possessions and serial killers.
The screening will be close with the culminating work of contemporary cinema: Parasite, the film which led South Korean producer Bong Joon-ho to make history in the Oscars, this time in black and white, a deeper and stylish version. The festival will begin before this last screening.