The start of a new year also marks the return of the ‘Cinema and Science’ series. In its ninth edition, the programme invites the public to explore some of the great scientific and humanistic questions that have shaped our relationship with the world. Organised by the Filmoteca Vasca Basque Film Archive, the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), and the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the series will tour its usual venues in Vitoria (Artium Museoa), San Sebastián (Tabakalera International Centre of Contemporary Culture), the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (currently at the University of the Basque Country's Bizkaia Aretoa-Mitxelena Auditorium), Pamplona (Golem Baiona Cinemas), and Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Cinéma Le Sélect), with a set of films that engage with disciplines as diverse as biology, physics, ecology, anthropology, mathematics, and contemporary ethics.

This was announced at the press conference held today in Tabakalera, which brought together Ibone Bengoetxea (First Vice-President and Minister for Culture and Language Policy), Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias (Minister of Science, Universities, and Innovation), Joxean Fernández (Director of the Filmoteca Vasca), and Ricardo Díez Muiño (Director of the DIPC). Also in attendance were Pedro Miguel Etxenike (President of the DIPC), Miguel Zugaza (Director of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum), José Luis Rebordinos (Director of the San Sebastián International Film Festival), Beatriz Herráez (Director of Artium Museoa), Xabi Garat (Director of Le Sélect Cinemas), Otilio García (Director of Golem Cinemas), and Edurne Ormazabal (General Director of Tabakalera).

Pérez Iglesias stated that “science crops up where one expects to find it, of course. But it also appears, not infrequently, where one least expects it. Cinema, in turn, shows us natural phenomena, animal behaviour, human traits, interpersonal relationships, social transformations and conflicts, and countless facets of our world and our lives. Thus, it should come as no surprise that innumerable works of cinema abound with events, plots, and dramatic developments about which science has a great deal to say.”

Likewise, Díez Muiño stressed that “in this series, considering its relationship with cinema, we propose a different approach to science and its impact on society. Films reflect and stimulate many of the ideas, concerns, interests, utopias, and dystopias that emerge in the human mind when confronted with scientific and technological advances. Works of fiction can humanise very complex problems by proposing alternative visions to the purely technical one.”

To conclude, Fernández reiterated that the spirit of the series remains unchanged since its inception: “Through ‘Cinema and Science’, we see that cinematic language reveals the beauty of science, while the universality of scientific thought helps to illuminate the beautiful images in motion that resonate with us on screen.” Furthermore, he announced that this ninth edition once again emphasises diversity, featuring films that, “sometimes still offer a scientific perspective without explicitly discussing science.”  

Films

The series will begin today in Vitoria with Planet of the Apes, a subversive science fiction classic that allows us to reflect on the progress and setbacks of humanity, authoritarian drifts, and "the peculiar beauties to be found in wreaking havoc, making a mess", in the words of Susan Sontag. The film will be presented by physicist, writer, and Ikerbasque Research Professor of the DIPC, Juan José Gómez Cadenas, during its session this afternoon and in the session in Pamplona tomorrow. Meanwhile, in San Sebastián (on the 9^th) and Bilbao (the 10^th), it will be presented by Pedro Miguel Etxenike, Prince of Asturias Award Recipient and President of the DIPC.

This first screening will be followed by L’enfant sauvage / The Wild Child, the story of a wild boy that French director François Truffaut filmed to bring audiences, without ostentation, closer to the emotion of the intrinsically human, of affection and the discovery of language. Meanwhile, The Social Network (director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's portrayal of the origins of social media) will lead spectators to a defining starting point of the present time.

The series will also travel to the territory of animal behaviour and collective risk with The Birds, a work by Hitchcock that continues to spark scientific readings into instinct, fear, and the human relationship with an environment that sometimes rebels. Likewise, as part of Emakumeak Zientzian, the film Sisters with Transistors will be screened, which highlights and delves into the history of the pioneers of electronic music.

The biological and ethical dimension will appear with particular strength in The Fly, Cronenberg's drama that will allow us to reflect on mutation, bodily limits, and experimentation.

Additionally, humour will come in the form of The Nutty Professor, while La Voie Royale / The Path of Excellence will show the story of a young woman whose talent and interest in mathematics lead her down paths for which she did not seem destined.

Finally, the series will enter into reflection on the end of life with Los destellos / Glimmers, into European memory with The Third Man, into anthropological reflection with Narayama bushikô /  The Ballad of Narayama, and into ecological and futuristic sensibility with Kaze no tani no Naushika / Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which will wrap up the edition and will also be part of the school sessions in San Sebastián, Bilbao, and Vitoria.

Presentations

Throughout these months, each film will feature presentations by specialists from DIPC, the University of the Basque Country, research centres, and fields such as biology, chemistry, acoustics, anthropology, and philosophy.

Specifically, the presentations will be given by the aforementioned Pedro Miguel Etxenike and Juan José Gómez Cadenas, as well as Amaia Carrión-Castillo (Ikerbasque Researcher in Educational Neuroscience and Developmental Disorders at BCBL), Antonio Casado da Rocha (Permanent Researcher in the Department of Philosophy of Values and Social Anthropology at the University of the Basque Country), Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias (PhD in Biology and Professor of Physiology at the University of the Basque Country and current Minister of Universities, Science, and Innovation of the Basque Government), Gabriel Berasategui (Biologist), Mónica Bello (former Director of Arts at CERN), Lorea Argarate (Technologist, Science Disseminator, and Musician from Bilbao who has received the Gladys Award), Ginés Morata (Biologist and Princess of Asturias Award Recipient for Scientific and Technical Research), Beatriz Díaz (PhD in Biology, specialising in entomology, currently working at Aranzadi), Xabier López (Chemist, Professor at the University of the Basque Country, and Associate of the DIPC), Eva Ferreira (Professor of Applied Economics and former Rector of the University of the Basque Country), Ander Urrutikoetxea (Oncologist at the Gipuzkoa-Osakidetza Cancer Unit and President of GEICAM), Pilar Palomero (renowned Film Director and Screenwriter), Itziar Alkorta (PhD in Biochemistry from the University of the Basque Country), María Jesús Goikoetxea Iturregui (PhD in Human Rights), Aitzpea Leizaola (PhD in Social Anthropology and Director of the Official Master's Degree in Anthropology at the University of the Basque Country), Ibone Ametzaga (Professor of Ecology at the University of the Basque Country), and Bosco Imbert (Researcher and Professor of Ecology at the Public University of Navarre).

The programme will be screened in its entirety in San Sebastián, Bilbao, Vitoria, and Pamplona, while in Saint-Jean-de-Luz one can enjoy The Wild Child, The Social Network, The Fly, The Third Man, The Ballad of Narayama, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Other activities

The ninth edition of the 'Cinema and Science' series includes other parallel activities. Firstly, on 12 February at 6:00 p.m. in Tabakalera’s Z Hall (that is, the day before the screening of The Fly in San Sebastián), biologist Ginés Morata, who in 2007 won the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research, will give a talk in which he will expand, with the audience, on the issues raised by the film.

Additionally, on 6 March, also at 6:00 p.m. in Tabakalera’s Z Hall and in collaboration with Biogipuzkoa, the round table entitled The end of life: literature, cinema, and science will take place with Pilar Palomero and Ander Urruticoechea. The panel will address issues related to the film Los destellos / Glimmers, directed by Palomero herself, and will be moderated by Itziar Vergara, Scientific Director of IIS Biogipuzkoa.

Tickets can be purchased on the websites and at the box offices of Tabakalera, Artium Museoa, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, and the Le Sélect and Golem Baiona cinemas. The price of each ticket is between 3.50 and 6.00 euros, excluding any discounts. In addition, the talk and the round table discussion will be free and open to the public, subject to capacity.