Water to Take Centre Stage in the 'IV Cycle of Gastronomy, Wine, and Cinema'

Commencing a new edition of the 'Cycle of Gastronomy, Wine, and Cinema', organised by the University of Alicante through the Film and Audiovisual Classroom, and the Carmencita Chair of Gastronomic Taste Studies. The organisers dedicate this fourth edition to water, "as a crucial element for survival, as an essential part of culinary creations and cultivation." The cycle, coordinated by Joaquín Juan Penalva, Antonio Romero, Luis Mira, and Ángeles Ruiz, presents a cineforum format, with the screening of four films followed by a debate, every Monday in March, at 7 PM, at the University of Alicante City Venue (Ramón y Cajal, 4).

The first session will take place next Monday, 3rd March, with the screening of the film 'El agua', directed by Oriolana Elena López Riera, nominated this year for the Goya and César awards for her latest work, 'Las novias del sur'. After the screening, the film's director will be joined by Jorge Olcina, Professor of Regional Geographic Analysis at the University of Alicante.

On Monday, 10th March, Israel Gil, coordinator of the Film and Audiovisual Classroom at UA, will deliver the lecture 'The Paths of Water, Sequence by Sequence', based on a selection of films where water plays a significant role.

In the following session, on Monday, 17th March, 'A Perfect Day', directed by Fernando León de Aranoa, will be screened. This film tells the story of a group of aid workers trying to remove a corpse from a well in a conflict zone, placed there to contaminate the water and deprive nearby populations of supply. Antonio Manuel Rico, a professor at the Interuniversity Institute of Geography at UA, and Mateo Marco Amorós, a graduate in Philosophy and Letters and writer, will participate in the subsequent debate.

The screening of the documentary 'La Albufera and the Marjal de Pego Oliva' will close the cycle on Monday, 24th March. This documentary, selected by the Gastrocinema Film Festival, offers a delightful journey through the history, nature, and gastronomy of these unique natural spaces. The documentary was produced by the Image Workshop of the University of Alicante, with script and direction by Josep Bernabeu Mestre and Ángeles Ruiz, director and coordinator of the Carmencita Chair of Taste Studies at UA, respectively. After the screening, Josep Bernabeu and Vicent Dominguis, an agricultural technical engineer and rice grower, will explain how the native Bombón rice variety, which had ceased to be cultivated in the Marjal, has been recovered.