ALEXÍA DE PALMA AND ALBA PINAZO, WINNERS OF THE 13TH FANCINE COMIC AND ILLUSTRATION COMPETITION

Daniel Rueda wins the first prize in the fantastic and horror micro-story competition, organised with the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities

Final stages of the 31st Fancine. On its penultimate day, the fantastic film festival of the University of Málaga ended the calendar of parallel activities planned for this year's edition. On Wednesday, two prize-giving ceremonies were held at the Rectorate of the UMA.

One of them was the Fancine Comic and Illustration competition, an activity related to the Educationsl Project that the festival carries out, in which the creativity of the students of the UMA who participate in the didactic sessions prior to the university competition is rewarded. The winner of the first prize in the Comic category was 'Flowers', by Alexía de Palma Cabanillas, a student at the San Telmo School of Art. The top prize in the Illustration category went to 'The Great Circus', by Alba Pinazo Lampre, from Santa Rosa de Lima school. The jury, made up of the Vice-Rector for Culture Tecla Lumbreras and the illustrators Eugenio Carlos Rivera, María Lafuente and Cristina Peláez, also named four runner-up prizes in each category among the works submitted in the two artforms by the students from the schools involved in this edition. In the two competition categories, prizes of 150 euros in drawing material were awarded and 300 euros to the school to which they belong.

At the same event, the winners of the 6th Fantastic and Horror Micro-story Contest "100cia", organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanitues of the UMA, were also unveiled. The event was attended by the Vice-Dean of Students of this centre, Miguel Ángel González, as well as the competition's evaluation committee, made up of members of the faculty's governing team, who announced the list of finalists and the three winning literary creations: third place went to the student Paula Fernández Lupiáñez for 'Las ratas y el cólera (o la cólera de las ratas)'; second place to Pedro Jesús Plaza for 'Hacia el lado oscuro'; and finally the first prize went to Daniel Rueda Candil for 'Persona'. All three won prizes ranging from 100 to 300 euros and a Fancine merchandising pack.

Meanwhile, at the Albéniz, Wednesday afternoon continued with the second screenings of films such as 'Junk Head', 'Hinterland', 'The Deer King' and 'Out of this World', which was presented by the film's producer, Julien Russo. Finally, the Contenedor Cultural hosted the performance of 'El canto de la moneda', the play by Manu Collado, which won second prize in the local MálagaCrea competition in the performing arts category, as well as the distinctions for best actor and actress. Under the direction of Daniel Galbeño, the theatre company presented three converging stories that explore the era in which we live, an era that forces us to contribute to the polarisation of debates and to choose sides in each discussion of current affairs through a lyrical and grotesque play that oscillates between comedy and drama.

Thursday's programme

The 31st edition of Fancine will come to an end this Thursday with the closing gala to be held at 8 p.m. at the Albéniz cinema directed by Dos Bengalas, the creative duo formed by Alessandra García and Violeta Niebla. The ceremony will include the reading of the list of winners with the decisions of the official committee, the young jury, as well as the audience awards and the "Gato Rabioso" award given by the accredited press. The last film to be screened at the festival will be 'The Pink Cloud', a Brazilian film directed by Iuli Gerbase, which will close Fancine's big screen this year.