Art and cinema as critical drivers of renewable energy

‘POWER ON! Energy’ is the main theme of the 35th FANCINE – Fantastic Film Festival of the University of Málaga 2025.

In connection with this festival, and in collaboration with the Museo Picasso Málaga, Félix Diego López Figueroa is delivering a lecture entitled ‘Art and cinema as critical drivers of renewable energy’ as a side event to FANCINE.

López Figueroa analyses the climate emergency as one of the major challenges faced by current generations. In this lecture, he addresses the causes and effects of human activity on the environment, highlighting the global impacts it produces. Science and technology provide strategies and actions designed to mitigate, prevent and reduce these impacts. All this is for the benefit of the planet and, consequently, of human society as a whole. In addition, artistic expressions, specifically films, can act as critical catalysts and drivers of sustainable actions. The lecture ends with a reflection on the mistreatment and care of Planet Earth spanning reason and emotion, the individual and the collective spheres, and the local and global levels.

Félix López Figueroa** is Professor of Ecology at the University of Málaga and a specialist in photobiology and marine biology. His research examines how algae harness solar energy and the effects of UV radiation and climate change on them. He heads the FYBOA group and the IBYDA institute, which focus on biotechnology and the applications of algae in aquaculture and cosmeceuticals. He has worked and taught courses in several countries and leads international collaborations. He is currently the president of the Sociedad de Ficología de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (SOFILAC), has authored more than 300 articles in scientific journals and ranks among the top 2% of the world’s most cited scientists in the field of Marine and Freshwater Sciences, according to a study by Stanford University.