#LabMeCrazy Science Film Festival brings the best science film documentaries to Pamplona

The VI edition of #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival kicks off on Monday, February 17 and will run until March 3. The science film festival, organized by the Science Museum of the University of Navarra, will offer the public high quality science films and a range of activities for all audiences. In this edition of the festival 1,679 productions from 108 countries have participated.

"This year we were also surprised by the quality of the productions in competition. The level of the films is impressive. They manage to show that science can be exciting," says Bienvenido León, director of #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival.

From February 20 to 23, some of the finalist documentaries of the festival will be screened in their original subtitled version, at 7 p.m. at the Golem Baiona (Av. de Bayona, 56, Pamplona). On Thursday 20, the documentary "Of Medicine and Miracles" will be screened, which tells the incredible story behind the cancer treatment using an innovative cancer treatment. The screening will be followed by a session with Sandra Hervas-Stubbs, principal investigator of the Adoptive Cell Therapy group at the Cima University of Navarra.

On Friday 21 will be the turn of "A la Caza del ADN más antiguo"(Hunt for the Oldest DNA), which focuses on the story of Eske Willerslev, who tries to fulfill his dream of finding ancestral DNA in soil sediments. After the screening, Javier Novo, Professor of Genetics at the University of Navarra, will speak to the audience about the main themes of the film.

On Saturday 22nd, "BlueCarbon: Nature's Hidden Power" will be screened, which reveals to the viewer a fantastic weapon to combat climate change, the so-called "blue carbon", whose secret lies in the ability of coastal ecosystems to capture carbon. The screening will be followed by a discussion with David Elustondo, scientific director of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment BIOMA of the University of Navarra.

On Sunday 23rd, "Flyways:The UntoldJourney of Migratory Shore Birds" will be screened, which describes some of the routes that migratory birds have been using on our planet for millennia and the threats faced by the migratory birds that use them. After the screening Xabier Esparza, biologist and scientific bird bander, will give a session.

On Tuesday 25, at 7 p.m. at the University of Navarra Museum, the festival awards gala will be held, presented by the scientist and humorist Helena González Burón. The gala will be a show in which there will be videos and monologues about science and will feature the intervention of the magician Numis.

The festival will recognize the best documentary or report, television program, video for the web or social networks, production by students, and work produced by a university or research center. In addition, the "Passion for Science" award will be presented to the researcher and astronaut candidate Sara García Alonso.

Tickets for the screenings and the gala can be picked up at the festival's website: www.labmecrazy.org. 

Conferences with experts, a session for schools and a family workshop

The activities begin tomorrow, Tuesday, at Civivox Iturrama at 7:30 pm, with the session "Curing cancer" by Ruth Vera, director of the Department of Medical Oncology at the University Hospital of Navarra (HUN).

On the 22nd at 11 am in the Science building of the University of Navarra, a family workshop will be held, aimed at primary school students, where they will learn through an experiment how DNA can be extracted from the cells of a banana.

On February 25 at 10 am, Sara García Alonso, scientist and astronaut candidate, will give the session "Passion for Science: from researcher to astronaut" for schools in Navarra in the auditorium of the Science building of the University of Navarra. One day later, at 12 noon, Sara will give the XII Albareda Lecture, a conference for students, researchers and professionals of the University of Navarra: "Biotechnology: from the laboratory to outer space".

On February 26 and 27, and March 3 at 19:30 pm in the Civivox of Iturrama will talk about Science. On Wednesday 26, Arturo Ariño, researcher at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment BIOMA of the University of Navarra will speak to attendees about Climate Change. A day later it will be the turn of Ana Patiño, professor of Genetics and director of the Genomic Medicine Unit of the Clínica y Cima University of Navarra, who will give the conference "You are (almost) what genetics wants you to be". And on March 3, the 6th edition of #LabMeCrazy! will close with a talk by Fernando Valladares, researcher at the Spanish National Research Council: "The future of the planet is happening".

The festival includes, outside the program open to the public, some sessions with university students and a screening and discussion at the Pamplona Penitentiary.

#LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival is an international scientific film festival, promoted by the Science Museum of the University of Navarra, which aims to bring science closer to society. The festival is developed thanks to the sponsorship of the Caja Navarra Foundation, the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) / Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Laboral Kutxa, SACYR Foundation, Lilly Foundation and the Government of Navarra, and has the collaboration of the Spanish Association Against Cancer in Navarra and The Pink Force Foundation.