Ecology, species survival, gastronomy, biomedicine, space missions, artificial intelligence and virology are some of the topics that will be present at #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival. The festival will take place between February 21 and 25 at the University of Navarra and will feature a varied program of activities aimed at all audiences.

"We have a program with a good number of activities that we hope will make good that motto of the festival and transmit passion for science. And I think it's worth noting that we're showing really top-notch films. They are very special stories that are going to surprise and are going to show that science can be not only understandable but really exciting," notes Bienvenido León, director of #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival.

A total of 1,371 productions from 104 countries participated in this year's competition.

A week full of activities

This edition of #LabMeCrazy! will be held in person. It includes a diverse program of morning activities to encourage the participation of citizens, especially young people, and the screening of the best finalist documentaries in the afternoon, at 7:00 pm at the University of Navarra Museum.

On Monday 21st, the documentary "Apollo 11" will be screened, a production with unpublished images of the 1969 NASA mission to the Moon. Afterwards, Javier Armentia, director of the Pamplona Planetarium, will guide us on a "tour" to see the sky of Pamplona.

On Tuesday 22, the documentary "Jim Allison: Breakthrough," the personal story of the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Medicine in his fight against cancer, will be screened. That same day in the morning there will be a guided tour to search for fossils hidden among the buildings of the city. In addition, a workshop on immunology and cancer will be offered for schools.

On Wednesday 23, "Nature's Fear Factor" will be screened, which shows with spectacular images the role of predators and the fear they cause to maintain wild ecosystems. In the morning, the activity "River invaders, know them and help us to control them" has been organized, a census of fish to know some aquatic invasive exotic species of the Arga River.

On Thursday morning, the 24th, there will be an urban safari through the parks of Pamplona showing the fauna and flora of the city. In the evening, at 7:00 pm at the University of Navarra Museum, the festival's awards gala will be held, presented by the researcher and well-known popularizer Alberto Vivó, monologuist of the Big Van group. The festival will recognize the best audiovisual productions of science and technology including the best documentary or report, television program, video for the web or social networks, production made by students, and work produced by a university. 

Influencers and "Passion for Science".

This year #LabMeCrazy! brings to Pamplona some of the best science influencers. On the morning of Wednesday 23rd, a Social Media Forum will be organized at the Faculty of Communication of the university campus. It is a space to talk about the dissemination of science in social networks, in which the influencers Javier Santaolalla, Tere Paneque and Alex Riveiro will participate. It will include the workshop "Produce your video on science for social networks" taught by Javier Santaolalla.

In addition, #LabMeCrazy! recognizes the work of some scientists and this year will receive during the gala on the 24th the special award of the festival "Passion for science" CSIC researchers Vicente Larraga, Mariano Esteban and Luis Enjuanes for their work on vaccines against COVID-19. On Friday 25, the festival closes with a colloquium with these three illustrious researchers with students and young researchers at the Faculty of Science.

All activities are open to the general public, but it is necessary to reserve a place or ticket through the website www.labmecrazy.org, where you can consult the schedules and specific locations of each activity. For any questions related to the festival, please contact museociencias@unav.es.

#LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival is an international scientific film festival, promoted by the Science Museum of the University of Navarra -with the collaboration of the Government of Navarra, Pamplona City Council, Laboral Kutxa and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology FECYT / Ministry of Science and Innovation-, which aims to bring science to society and especially to new generations.