The thirteenth edition of the Elche International Fantastic Film Festival – FANTAELX will be held from 13 al 22 November 2025, being free access until capacity is reached.
The poster for the thirteenth edition of the Festival, made by the artist Mario-Paul Martínez mixing manual pencil and digital color, presents a double tribute to Japanese culture. On the one hand, to the animated film “Ghost in the Shell” (1995), which this year celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, showing its protagonist being repaired with the excess of futuristic machinery so characteristic of cyberpunk. This image uses chiaroscuro inking typical of Japanese manga or comics., based on plots and points. On the other hand, and superimposing on it, We find a bright and multicolored explosion of characters from Japanese culture in Kawaii style. Under this most adorable aesthetic, icons as emblematic as Godzilla appear., Ultraman, Mazinger Z, Pikachu, In practice, etc.
The thirteenth edition of the Festival will be held from 13 al 22 November 2025. Within your programming, and as an inaugural activity, There will be a screening of the aforementioned film “Ghost in the Shell” (1995). Within the framework of this anniversary, Mamoru Oshii's masterpiece revolutionized anime and, along with other titles, left an indelible mark on the universe of Japanese cyberpunk. The screening will take place on Thursday 13 November at 20:00h at the Odeón Cinemas in Elche, being free access until capacity is reached and without prior entry reservation. Besides, the released version will be screened in 1995, without the digital retouching that was done later, to enjoy it as it was first seen.
The Festival has the support of entities such as the Department of Culture of the Elche City Council, Visit Elche, the Valencian Institute of Culture (IVC), the Alicante Provincial Council, the Vice-Rector for Culture, Equality and Diversity of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, or the L'Aljub shopping center, among other. All of this, added to the creation of synergies with other festivals, such as the Helena Cortesina Short Film Festival or the Sant Joan d'Alacant Film Festival, qualifier for the Goya Awards. The Festival is directed by Fran Mateu, and is organized by the Association for the Development and Dissemination of the Fantastic Genre “Black Unicorn”, the Arts Research Center (Inc) and the Massive Research Group.
The programming here. All sessions will be free access until capacity is reached..
