FANCINE OPENS IN THE MORNING WITH A FRIDAY FILLED WITH Q&As WITH DIRECTORS AND FILM SCORES

The Chinese ’Cliff Walkers’ and ’La hija’, the first of the three Spanish films in competition at this edition, are the stars of the third day’s screenings.

Busy agenda on the third day of the 31st Fancine. The fantastic film festival of the University of Malaga experienced a Friday of intense activity with a full calendar of parallel activities in all the venues that complemented the screenings at the Albéniz, screenings which, for the first time in this edition, took place in the morning hours ahead of the weekend. Friday's line-up in Alcazabilla Street screens included an important presence of Asian cinema, with titles such as the animated film 'The Deer King', the premiere of the Korean film 'Recalled', the second screening of 'Prisoners of the Ghostland' or the revision of ‘Tunnel’, which was the star of the event in the Rectorate with CineAsia. The Asian repertoire was completed by the first film in competition of the afternoon, the Chinese production 'Cliff Walkers'. With this new work, the popular director Zhang Yimou delves into the spy sub-genre with a historical film that follows a group of infiltrated agents investigating atrocious experiments in Japan. 

The official section completed its daily offering with 'La hija', a thriller by Manuel Martín Cuenca that adds a Spanish accent to the competitive section, while awaiting the next national candidates that will also be in the competition on this 31st birthday. The long-awaited return of the Andalusian director participates in Fancine with a thriller about a young pregnant woman in a juvenile centre who moves with one of the centre's educators and her partner to a quiet, secluded country house. The story stars Javier Gutiérrez, Patricia López Arnaiz and Irene Virgüez and features music by Vetusta Morla. 

On the eve of the weekend, the first meetings with directors also took place, such as the one with Baptiste Drapeau and Mauricio Carrasco, the director and one of the co-screenwriters of the film 'The Lodger', which had its national premiere at Fancine. Starring the legendary Jacqueline Bisset (‘Day for Night’, 'Murder on the Orient Express') and the young emerging Alice Isaaz ('Elle', 'Play'), the film follows Julie, a student who lives with Elizabeth, a widowed woman, in exchange for helping her with the housework under the condition that she act as if her deceased husband were still alive. In this way, the film combines the thriller, romance, and fantasy genres. After the screening, Drapeau and Carrasco answered questions from the audience about the film, their collaboration, their influences, working with Bisset and the central message they were trying to convey. "It may seem that the main character is crazy", explained the director, "but if we get closer to her and her emotions, we see that she is not".

And music played a major role in the day's programme with the traditional film score concert, an event which, although it recovered the attendance of the public, was broadcast live just like last year on Fancine's YouTube channel thanks to the technical coverage of the Image Technology Centre of the UMA. Under the baton of Miguel Romea, the Malaga Provincial Symphony Orchestra performed pieces from the musical works by Basil Poledouris, such as 'RoboCop' and 'Starship Troopers', as well as suites from other genre film classics such as 'Aliens' and 'Blade Runner' in the auditorium of the School of Computer Engineering and Telecommunications, which was at full capacity. 

Precisely, in the Contenedor Cultural of the Teatinos campus, the tribute to the famous Greek composer had begun earlier with the presentation of the book 'The music of Basil Poledouris', in which the Malaga critic Sergio Hardasmal reviews the brilliant and prolific career of the creator of such iconic melodies as 'Conan the Barbarian'. This is the only book on the artist's entire oeuvre published worldwide, containing an in-depth analysis of his works for film and television, as well as other outstanding compositions for other fields, with the aim of paying tribute to his figure. Film music gave way on the same stage to the Bloody Girls, who gave the talk 'Women and the Devil', examining the relationship between female representations and everything diabolical in film, focusing on temptation, surrender to evil, possession and fervour.

Finally, in the industrial area of Intelhorce, Autocines Málaga Metrovacesa hosted the screening of the new film by Julia Ducournau, 'Titane', the brand-new winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes. 

Weekend programme

During the weekend, the Family Sessions will take place at the Albéniz with two morning screenings: 'Frankenweenie' on Saturday and 'Wall-E' on Sunday, both of which will be played in their Spanish dubbed version and will be preceded by a storyteller. The first screenings of competing films such as 'Belle', 'Wild Men', 'In the Earth' and 'Visitor' will also take place, the latter with the presence of its director, Alberto Evangelio. The screening of 'Caveat' will be followed by a meeting with the filmmaker Damian McCarthy. In addition, the Bill Plympton Special will take place on Saturday, in which the illustrator and designer of this year's passport 'kitties' will show his best-known work as well as previews of unpublished works. In the parallel venues, the last two sessions of the 'Asia Fantástica' cycle at the Rectorate of the UMA and from the Autocine Málaga Metrovacesa program will take place. 

The Teatinos campus will host activities such as the K-Pop contest, the play by Mu Teatro, the Slime workshop, and the concert by El Altar del Holocausto in the Contenedor Cultural; and guided tours of the planetarium by Aula del Cielo, which has been installed in the hall of the Faculty of Education and Psychology.