With 26 years of history, FICAB has established itself as a unique and reference festival for the dissemination of archaeology through cinema. This edition will feature 24 films selected from 60 submissions, with productions from France, Spain, Italy, and Chile.
Irun's mayor, Cristina Laborda, highlighted the festival's value: "FICAB is one of those cultural projects that make us especially proud of Irun. A unique festival in our region, born here 26 years ago and now a benchmark. It shows that from Irun we are capable of promoting high-quality cultural initiatives with its own personality and international reach. And all this, making it accessible to all citizens, bringing archaeology closer in an attractive and exciting way."
One of the major highlights of this edition is the record participation in the Educational Section, with over 500 students. For the first time, schools from Donostia and Orio are included, alongside the usual participants from Bidasoa and Oarsoaldea. Laborda stated, "It is especially exciting to see how FICAB continues to grow among the younger generation. This festival offers an opportunity to awaken curiosity in new generations, which is important for their academic development by providing cultural access to discover our history. That is undoubtedly one of the festival's greatest successes."
The festival will kick off on Monday, November 16, at the Amaia Kultur Zentroa with the screening of El valle de los neandertales, attended by co-directors Javier Trueba and Gabriela Villecco. The film will offer free audio description via the AudescMobile app.
The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 21, with an awards presentation and the screening of En busca del fuego. All films will be available for free on the FESTHOME platform during the festival week. The full program can be consulted on the new website www.ficab.org.
As in previous years, the jury will comprise renowned professionals from the audiovisual and archaeology fields. This year, it will be presided over by Lourdes Herrasti, director of the archaeological team for the Cuelgamuros Valley remains recovery project. She will be joined by Beatriz Agramonte, Valentina Porcheddu, Giorgio Studer, and Mertxe Urteaga.
This year's awards include: Grand Festival Prize (2,000 euros), Audience Special Award (1,000 euros), EITB Award for Gender Perspective (1,000 euros), Educational Section Award (750 euros), and Arkeolan Award for Scientific Dissemination (no monetary prize).
