FANTASTIC DAYS: LECTURES, DEBATES AND SCREENINGS ABOUT THE FANTASTIC
The Fantastic Days consists consists of a parallel section whose objective is the dissemination and visibility of the fantastic genre in its different forms of expression in other municipalities beyond the town of Elche. To this end, presentations of the current edition of the festival are held; master classes aimed at professionals; audiovisual screenings accompanied by meetings; and presentations and debates on the fantastic genre at an international or national level. In addition, another of the main objectives of the Fantastic Days is to try to bring the fantastic genre to places where this type of activities and festivals are less present, especially those towns at risk of depopulation.
Fantastic Day: Presentation of the book “Ciencia y criaturas de lo fantástico”.
Date: 29 November 2024 at 19:00h.
Place: Ali i Truc bookshop in Elche.
Presentation of the book “Ciencia y criaturas de lo fantástico”, derived from the Congress organised as part of the festival, with the attendance of its editors, Mario-Paul Martínez and Fran Mateu, together with several authors who have participated in the volume, such as Anna Tarragó, from the University of Barcelona, who has contributed with the chapter “De historias malditas y La Dama del Lago. Análisis de las damas de agua en la narrativa audiovisual”; Michelle L. Copmans, who together with Vicente Javier Pérez Valero has contributed the text “Hacia el posthumanismo a través de los demiurgos y sus criaturas”; or Jaime Quiles, who together with Miguel Ors Montenegro participates with the chapter “Pioneros del cine fantástico y la ciencia ficción en Elche: Diego Amorós García y Ramón Pastor Castell”.
Fantastic Day: Invited conference “The fantastic in film exhibition and editorial dissemination”.
Date: 23 May 2024 at 14:30h.
Place: Faculty of Philology and Communication of the University of Barcelona.
Invited conference given as part of the research and training activities of the Degree in Communication and Cultural Industries at the University of Barcelona. In it, part of the festival team addressed the particularities of the festival’s commercial and exhibition circuits, the academic and informative aspects of the congress held as part of the festival, and the festival’s book “Territorios de la Alta Fantasía”, edited by Tirant Lo Blanch, was presented.
Fantastic Day: Presentation of the book “Territorios de la Alta Fantasía”.
Date: 2 May 2024 at 19:00h.
Place: Pynchon & CO Bookshop in Alicante.
Presentation of the book “Territorios de la Alta Fantasía”, derived from the Congress organised as part of the festival, with the attendance of its editors, Mario-Paul Martínez and Fran Mateu, together with several authors and artists who have participated in the volume, such as Damià Jordà, who has contributed two chapters on post-production in the evolution of High Fantasy film; Michelle Copmans, who addressed the links between history and political science in “Game of Thrones”; and Fernando Fernández and Elisa Martínez, who analysed the applications of the rotoscoping technique in Ralph Bakshi’s adaptation of “The Lord of the Rings”.
Fantastic Day: FANTAELX, the fantastic genre through Spanish short film.
Date: 30 September 2023 at 17:00h.
Place: MUFANT – Museo lab del Fantastico e della Fantascienza di Torino (Italy).
Presentation of the festival’s itinerary and various activities: its film categories, its collaborators and participants from the world of cinema, its publications and parallel activities, as well as, in particular, the International Congress of Fantastic Genre, Audiovisuals and New Technologies, which is also held within the framework of this festival and which attracts, every year, more than fifty international researchers. Screening of a specific selection of short films that offer a perspective of the fantastic panorama currently being made in Spain: Polter (Álvaro Vicario), Dar-Dar (Paul Urkijo), Wayback (Carlos Salgado), Polvotron 500 (Silvia Conesa), and 9 Pasos (Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera), which have also won awards at relevant festivals in the field of the fantastic such as the Sitges International Film Festival or the HARD:LINE Film Festival, among others.
Fantastic Day: Screening of the film “Espíritu Sagrado”.
Date: 27 March 2023 at 19:00h.
Place: Auditorium La Lonja from Orihuela.
Free screening of the film “Espíritu Sagrado”, with the attendance of its director, the filmmaker from Elche, Chema García Ibarra, its art director Leonor Díaz, and a meeting with the public and a colloquium moderated by Carlos Escolano. The film, framed in the field of science fiction, has been awarded and nominated at various national and international film events, such as Seattle International Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, Feroz Awards and Berlanga Awards. This event is organised in collaboration with Orihuela Ateneo Socio-Cultural Association Viento del Pueblo, the Orihuela City Council and La Aventura Cine.
Fantastic Day: Presentation of the X edition of Elche International Fantastic Film Festival – FANTAELX, screening of short films and a talk on pioneers women of the fantastic in animated film. Within the framework of the EASDO Animation Conferences.
Date: 18 May 2023.
Place: School of Art and Design of Orihuela (EASDO).
10:30h-11:30h: Presentation of Elche International Fantastic Film Festival – FANTAELX by its organizers: Fran Mateu and Mario-Paul Martínez. Screening of short films.
11:30h- 13:30h: Conference “Pioneering women in independent animation” by the artist and director Elisa Martínez. Although many of them are practically unknown, since the origin of cinema they have contributed to the development, from independent production, of techniques, narratives and plastic styles, without which animation would not be the artistic field we know today. Screening of short films.
