The upcoming edition of Fancine, the fantasy and adjacent genres film festival organized by the UMA's Vice-Rectorate for Culture, now has its promotional image. Malaga-based illustrator Natacha Bustos, known for her work on comics for Marvel and within the Star Wars universe, designed the poster for the 36th event, scheduled from November 11 to 17.
The poster features a romantic and irreverent illustration depicting the festival's mascot, a 'little cat', on a date with an alien. The artwork aims to reflect this year's leitmotif: love, explored through the lens of fantasy cinema and related genres. The edition's slogan is "Programmed to Love," examining the "technological hyper-connection yet emotional disconnection" characterizing contemporary relationships.
“"When a cartoonist is offered a project like this, making a poster, they always feel a lot of pressure: it's something everyone on the street will see, and although many believe it, an artist isn't good at everything; I'm good at drawing comics but I don't have that much experience making posters... And it's not easy. Fortunately, it has helped me a lot that the organization has always been very clear about what it wanted."
“"In these times, we see many posters made with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and art made by machines is not the same. Generative AI, no, please."
Bustos expressed her gratitude to the UMA for the trust placed in her talent, and took the opportunity to voice her rejection of the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence in art, stating that "art made by machines is not the same."
Rosario Gutiérrez, Vice-Rector for Culture, explained that the choice of the love theme responds to the need to "present a closer and more intimate theme" in times of "so much vital tension and anguish," analyzing the dichotomy between technology and emotional disconnection.
The festival maintains its ties with the Festival de Málaga-Cine Español and expands its network of collaborators to include the Escuela de San Telmo and the higher conservatories of Music and Dance. Additionally, as a preview, the first session of Fancine de Verano (Summer Fancine) has been held with open-air screenings at Muelle Uno, featuring titles such as 'Stardust', 'Ghost', 'The Princess Bride', and 'Grease'.
