The documentary about Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre, an 18th-century military engineer from Zaragoza who led archaeological excavations at sites such as Pompeii and Herculaneum, will premiere at the opening of the fifth edition of the Saraqusta Film Festival on Friday, April 25, following the festival’s opening gala, which is sponsored by the Zaragoza City Council. The aim of this film by the Aragonese production company Crew Films, directed by Zaragoza-based filmmaker Silvia Pradas, is to give due recognition to one of the founding fathers of modern archaeology.
Saraqusta Film Festival, Zaragoza’s International Festival of Historical Films and Series, will take place from April 25 through Friday, May 2. With the launch of the 2025 edition, the Zaragoza City Council reaffirms its commitment to promoting the audiovisual sector and to culture as a driving force for dynamism, as the council is the driving force behind the event. As Sara Fernández, Councilor for Culture, Education, and Tourism for the City of Zaragoza, explains, “we are proud to see that this event has now matured into a benchmark for film enthusiasts in the city. The festival perfectly defines how we implement our cultural policy: quality, specialized content that is accessible to the general public, who always respond positively to our offerings.”
For his part, José Ángel Delgado, the festival’s director, adds that “for a film festival like Saraqusta, reaching its fifth edition is a significant milestone that our team values greatly. And we do so with the excitement of feeling that we are establishing ourselves among the festivals of Zaragoza, Aragon, and Spain. Furthermore, we are proud to be contributing to the city.”
The opening of Saraqusta 2025 will highlight the figure of Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre, a native of Zaragoza, who was, according to the documentary’s director, Silvia Pradas, “a man from Zaragoza with unwavering perseverance. His work led him to make one of the greatest discoveries in history: rescuing the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum from oblivion. His work not only marked the beginning of interest in antiquity and heritage conservation but also influenced the subsequent development of archaeology as a discipline.”
For the director of ‘Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre. Descubriendo Pompeya y Herculano’ (Discovering Pompeii and Herculaneum) and her team, “it is a true honor to premiere this documentary in our homeland, the very place where Alcubierre was born. His legacy deserves to be recognized and shared, and there is no better place to do so than here, in Zaragoza, at a festival like Saraqusta. There could not have been a better start to the journey of our documentary.”
JUANJO ARTERO AND ANA TURPIN, SARAQUSTA AWARDS
Thanks to the Saraqusta Film Festival, Zaragoza has welcomed well-known figures from the audiovisual industry, including international actors such as Joaquim de Almeida and Fabio Testi; directors such as Antonio del Real and Javier Olivares; producers such as Andrés Vicente Gómez; and stars of both the small and big screens, such as Isabel Ordaz and Nadia de Santiago.
This year, two of the Saraqusta Awards will go to Juanjo Artero and Ana Turpin, in recognition of their careers in historical film and television. The actors will receive their awards during the opening gala of the fifth edition, and another Saraqusta Award will be presented at the closing gala, the recipient of which has yet to be announced.
Artero has brought characters to life in films such as ‘El río que nos lleva,’ directed by Antonio del Real, which tells the story of the last shipment of logs down the Tagus River; and José María Carreño’s ‘Ovejas negras,’ a black comedy that critiques Catholic education in Franco-era Spain. In addition, he has appeared in series such as ‘Amar es para siempre,’ whose plot reflects the social, economic, and political changes in Spain from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Turpin, for his part, has been part of the cast of films such as Juan José Porto’s ‘El florido pensil,’ based on the book of the same name by Andrés Sopeña. The film portrays education during the Spanish postwar period, specifically in the 1940s, through the eyes of a group of schoolchildren. In addition, like Artero, he has appeared in historical dramas such as ‘Amar en tiempos revueltos,’ set during the Spanish Civil War and the early years of Franco’s dictatorship, and the miniseries ‘Hotel Almirante,’ which tells a story of love and mystery spanning from the 1920s to the postwar era.
EIGHT DAYS OF PROGRAMMING
This year, just like last year, the festival will feature a full week of activities. Following the opening ceremony, which will take place on the afternoon of Friday, April 25, a day of special screenings will be held on Saturday, April 26. From Sunday, April 27, through Thursday, May 1, the main focus will be on the films in competition. During these days, morning activities will be held at the Caesaraugusta Roman Theater Museum. Early in the morning, press conferences will be held with the creators of the day’s featured audiovisual works. Following that, discussions and roundtables will take place to address topics related to history, the audiovisual arts, and culture; and, finally, there will once again be screenings of Aragonese documentaries, which drew large crowds in 2024.
In the afternoons, the program will move to the Fundación Ibercaja Patio de la Infanta, where the series and audiovisual works from the festival’s non-competitive section—dubbed “Panorama Saraqusta”—will be screened (at 5:00 p.m.). These screenings will be open to the public, just like the Aragonese documentaries, as well as the documentaries in competition (at 7:00 p.m.). The venue that will host the evening screenings of the feature films in competition (at 9:00 p.m.) has yet to be determined.
An advance pass is now available for purchase on the festival website, granting access to screenings of the ten films in competition (five documentaries and five feature films) as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, which will include special screenings. The pass is priced at 10 euros until March 10.
In 2025, there will be more new developments to be unveiled over the coming months. Among them is the production of three episodes of a podcast about the festival, created by the team behind the film and television podcast ‘El sótano de Bruce’. These episodes will look back at the highlights of previous years and offer previews of all the content featured in the fifth edition: films in competition, the selection of the Saraqusta Awards, and the films that will open and close the festival… The first episode is now available on Ivoox and YouTube under the title: Saraqusta Podcast VOL. I.
RULES AND REGULATIONS AVAILABLE
The rules for participating in this year’s edition of the competition are available on the official website (www.saraqustafilmfestival.com), and the registration deadline is March 7, 2025. The awards up for grabs include Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, and the Youth Jury Award. All awards come with a cash prize ranging from €1,000 to €5,000 per award. In addition, there are the Saraqusta Awards, designed to recognize the contributions of professionals in the historical audiovisual sector, which will be announced prior to the start of the festival.
The jury that will select the winners of the Saraqusta Film Festival will be the same for all sections and will consist of prominent figures from the audiovisual, cultural, and historical research fields. The list of winners will be announced on the morning of Friday, May 2, during the festival’s official press conference. That afternoon, the awards ceremony will take place, marking the closing of the festival’s fifth edition.
THE ROMAN MOSAIC OF ‘THE MUSES AND THE FAUN,’ FEATURED ON THE POSTER
Saraqusta Film Festival poster creatively combines cultural and historical elements. This year, the design was created by the festival’s visual director, David Arenas, and programming coordinator, Patricia Naya. At the suggestion of the Zaragoza City Council, it features a fragment of the Roman mosaic “The Muses and the Faun,” dating from the 2nd/3rd centuries AD, which is housed in the Museum of the Forum of Caesaraugusta.
This ornate mosaic was discovered in 1989 during construction work near the Central Market, next to the Roman walls. It was part of a large residence and decorated the floor of the largest room. The fragment used for the festival poster corresponds to one of the corners, which featured a muse with the attributes of tablets and writing, associated with Clio, the muse of History.