He Film and Speech Festival (CiBRA) rev up your engines to celebrate your XVIth editionwhich will take place from October 25 to November 9, 2024 between Toledo and La Puebla de Montalbán and in which music will be present in many of its activities, as one of its novelties. Another of these novelties will be the presence of a new mascot, which is a recreation of the friendly robot protagonist of the film “Short Circuit”, which is also the protagonist of the poster of this edition.
This character recreated for the occasion conquered the screens in the 80s and is inspired by a short story by Isaac Asimov. In this sense, the director of the Festival, Gabriel Castanounderlines that the choice of this character “is not a coincidence”, since this competition has been dedicated, since its origin, to “exploring the relationship between cinema and literature” and “few protagonists could better represent this spirit than Johnny 5, as a creature born from cinema, but, rooted in literature, it perfectly symbolizes the intersection of the two worlds, which is precisely the heart of CiBRA”, as the festival organization reports in a press release.
What makes Johnny 5 a character “so endearing and appropriate” to the image of the Festival is his insatiable thirst for knowledge. Throughout “Short Circuit,” you can see how this robot develops an uncontrollable need to learn and uses reading as a means to do so.
He devours books with astonishing speed, assimilating information with boundless enthusiasm that makes him not only more “human” but also a symbol of the search for wisdom. This is why his personality aligns perfectly with the philosophy of CiBRA, which seeks to promote knowledge, reflection and creativity through cinema and the written word. In fact, this mascot will continue to be present in future editions of this Festival where the seventh art merges with literature.
The director thus underlines that “this robot is not only a character who brings nostalgia for a beloved film, but a symbol loaded with meaning for what the Festival of cinema and speech“.
“Its choice as the new mascot not only honors the rich legacy of science fiction in literature and cinema, but also celebrates the power of curiosity, learning and the desire to understand the world,” says Castaño.
For his part, another novelty at the CiBRA Festival this year is the inclusion of music in most of the activities that will be scheduled during the 16 days that this cultural event, already nationally recognized, will last. A music whose presence will be the protagonist throughout the different days of the Festival, reaching its peak during the Gaia Finale, where it will be the real protagonist of this edition.
Likewise, as was done in the last edition, this year CiBRA will also have a prologue that will begin on October 25, which will join the 10 days of the Festival, ending on November 9. This will take place at the National Paraplegic Hospital, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
It should be noted that the last weekend of October, that is, from the 25th to the 27th, will also take place the Cinema and Education Days at the Castle of San Servando. An initiative that continues to support cinema as an educational tool in the classrooms of the different centers of Castilla-La Mancha.
