2020 Guests

Friday 2 october
19.30h. Sala Filarmonica
Alba Carballal
(Lugo, 1992) is an architect and writer. Her first novel, ‘Tres maneras de inducir un coma’ (Three Ways to Induce a Coma), published by Seix Barral in 2019, is a fun satire that follows in the footsteps of the humour of Eduardo Mendoza. She collaborates as a columnist for the Vocento group, for the magazine Arquitectura Viva and on the literary website Zelda. She is also a scriptwriter for the programme ‘Late Motiv’ with Buenafuente and, alongside Darío Adanti, she co-leads the podcast “El milenarismo” (Millenarianism) on literature and comedy.

Friday 2 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Darío Adanti
(Argentina, on Tuesday 13th (in Spanish culture this is the day of bad luck like Friday 13th) 1971). He has published illustrations and comics in media outlets such as The New York Times, El País, La Vanguardia, Público, El Mundo, Primera Línea and Man. He has published several comics in Spain, including ‘Disparen al humorista’ (Shoot the Comedian) and ‘Monstruos modernos’ (Modern Monsters) with Jordi Costa (both published by Astiberri). He is also one of the founders of the magazine Mongolia, where he writes and draws, an activity that he combines with performances of ‘Mongolia, the musical’. A regular collaborator with the programme ‘A vivir’ on La SER radio station, alongside Alba Carballal, he co-leads the podcast “El milenarismo” (Millenarianism) on literature and comedy.

Saturday 3 october
19:00h. Sala Filarmonica

Saturday 3 october
19:00h. Sala Filarmonica
Berta Vias Mahou
(Madrid, 1961) holds a degree in Ancient History, she is a writer and has translated Stefan Zweig, Arthur Schnitzler, Joseph Roth and Goethe, among others. She is the author of novels such as ‘Leo en la cama’ (Leo in Bed), ‘Venían a buscarlo a él’ (They Came for Him) (2011 Dul-ce Chacón Prize for Spanish Narrative) and ‘Yo soy El Otro’ (I Am the Other) (Torrente Bal-lester Prize for Narrative), the essay ‘La imagen de la mujer en la literatura’ (The Represen-tation of Women in Literature) and the short story collections ‘Ladera norte’ (The North Face) (Acantilado, 2001) and ‘La mirada de los Mahuad’ (The Mahuad’s Eyes) (Lumen, 2016). Her latest published work is the novel ‘Una vida prestada’ (A Borrowed Life) (Lumen, 2018).

Saturday 3 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
César Coca
His entire professional career has been linked to the newspaper El Correo, where has worked for the Economics, Local, Society and Culture Sections. He is currently also assistant director at this newspaper. He is the author or co-author of a dozen books and won the Miguel de Unamuno Essay Prize in 2006. César Coco also teaches Journalism at the University of the Basque Country as well as the El Correo Journalism Master’s Program at the same university.

Saturday 3 october
20:45h. Sala Filarmonica
Martín Caparrós
(Buenos Aires, 1957) graduated in history in Paris, lived in Madrid and New York, ran book and cooking magazines, translated Voltaire, Shakespeare and Quevedo, received the Planeta Prize and the Herralde Novel Prize, the King of Spain International Journalism Prize, a Gug-genheim Fellowship, he planted a lemon tree, he has a child and has published several books, notably including ‘Los Living’ (Living) winner of the 2011 Herralde Novel Prize and the essay ‘El Hambre’ (Hunger), both published by Anagrama. ‘Sinfín’ (Endless) (Literatura Random House, 2020) and ‘Ahorita’ (Now) (Anagrama, 2019) are his most recent publications.

Saturday 3 october
20:45. Sala Filarmonica
Aixa de la Cruz
(Bilbao, 1988) holds a doctorate in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature and is a writ-er. She has published novels such as ‘Cuando fuimos los mejores’ (When We Were the Best) (Almuzara, 2007) and ‘La línea del frente’ (The Front Line) (Salto de Página, 2017) and the short story collection ‘Modelos animales’ (Animal Models) (Salto de Página, 2015). She has also collaborated on different anthologies such as ‘Última temporada’ (Last Season) (Lengua de Trapo, 2013) and ‘Bajo treinta’ (Under Thirty) (Salto de página, 2013). Her latest book is ‘Cambiar de idea’ (Changing One´s Mind) (Caballo de Troya, 2019).

Sunday 4 october
18:00h. Sala Filarmonica
Imanol Ituiño
(Bilbao, 1989) is, according to himself, someone who “does magic excessively at different events and in different places, such as dinners, weddings, theatres, venues, parties, cocktail evenings, openings and funerals; although the last niche on the market is something that remains to be explored (a niche, quite literally).

Sunday 4 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Marta Sanz
(Madrid, 1967) is one of the most outstanding novelists of her generation. Her novels, mainly published by the publishing house Anagrama notably include ‘Un buen detective no se casa jamás’ (A Good Detective Never Marries), ’La lección de anatomía’ (The Anatomy Lesson) and ‘Farándula’ (Show Business), the satire that earned her the Herralde Novel Prize. She is also the author of several poetry collections and regularly collaborates with the cultural sections of El País and in El Mundo´s supplement El Cultural. Her latest novel is ‘pequeñas mujeres rojas’ (small red women), the last instalment of the trilogy of the unusual detective Arturo Zarco.

Sunday 4 octobrt
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Carolina Ontivero
Holder of a degree in Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations from the University of the Basque Country. She has been part of the organisation of Ja! Bilbao since its first edition in 2010, when the festival was still called La Risa de Bilbao. She is mainly in charge of programming and communication and is assistant manager. She values humour above all else. However, her bedside table is full of books about wars and concentration camps.

Thuesday 4 october
17:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Rubén Amón
(Madrid, 1969) has worked in almost every genre as a journalist (from bullfighting, culture and sports criticism to press columns), he has been a correspondent in Rome and Paris, he has covered armed conflicts in the Balkans and has worked for both the radio (Onda Cero) and television (Antena 3) and for the press (currently at El Confidencial). As a result of this versatility and his “capacity to entertain, with irony and humour, without sacrificing rigour” he was awarded the Francisco Cerecedo Journalism Prize in 2018. He is also the author of several essays, notably including the biography of Plácido Domingo, ‘Un coloso en el teatro del mundo’ (A Colossus on the World Stage) (Planeta, 2012).

Thuesday 8 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Guillermo Altares
He works for the newspaper El País, where he has held several management positions such as editor in chief of the International section, elpais.com and head of the supplements Babelia and Ideas. He has been a special envoy in more than 20 countries, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, among others. Before El País, he worked at the branch of the France Presse Agency in Madrid and at the now defunct newspaper El Sol. He is the author of ‘Una lección olvidada: Viajes por la historia de Europa’ (A Forgotten Lesson: Journeys through European History) (Tusquets, 2018). He collaborates on the programme ‘La Cultureta’ on Onda Cero.

Thuesday 8 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Sergio del Molino
(1979) is the author of the crucial narrative essay ‘La España vacía’ (Empty Spain) (2016), which managed to bring the problem of depopulation to the forefront of current affairs. Previously, he had won the Ojo Crítico and Tigre Juan prizes with ‘La hora violeta’ (The Violet Hour) (2013) and he subsequently won the Espasa Prize for ‘Lugares fuera de sitio’ (Outside Places) (2018). He is also the author of novels such as ‘Lo que a nadie le importa’ (What Nobody Cares About) (2014) and ‘La mirada de los peces’(The Look of Fish) (2017). He is a columnist for El País and collaborates on Onda Cero as a member of La Cultureta, among other programmes. His latest book is ‘La piel’ (Skin) published in 2020 by Alfaguara.

Thuesday 8 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Isabel Vázquez
Is a scriptwriter, presenter and film and series critic. She has written for FOX, National Geo-graphic, Disney Channel, TVE and Telecinco. In 2015 she published the book ‘Me llamo Peg-gy Olson’ (My Name is Peggy Olson), in which she analyses the role of the Mad Men charac-ter. She publishes a monthly column in the printed edition of Fotograma and teaches Scriptwriting and Television Studies classes at Carlos III University of Madrid. She is a regu-lar collaborator in several media outlets, on Canal+ she has co-presented the show “Tentac-iones” (Temptations), as well as the ceremonies for the Golden Globes, the Oscars, the Em-mys and the Feroz Awards. She collaborates on the Onda Cero programme La Cultureta.
Rosa Belmonte
Born in Murcia and a Law graduate, Rosa Belmonte was a lawyer before she became a newspaper writer. She combined the defence of rapists with writing until she chose to watch things and talk about them. With humour. Watching television and talking about it (more of a chronicle than criticism), watching politicians and talking about them, watching life and talking about it. Always linked to the Vocento group, she writes columns without frills, “with the sole aim of turning a joke into a tiny revolution, as Orwell would say”. She collaborates on Onda Cero where, in addition to analysing the gossip magazines with Josemi Rodríguez Sieiro, she is part of La Cultureta.

Friday 9 october
19:00h. Sala Filarmonica
María Elvira Roca Barea
Holds a degree in Classical Philology and Hispanic Philology, and a doctorate in Medieval Literature. She has collaborated with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and she writes articles in specialised journals and newspapers such as El Mundo, El País and ABC. She has taught classes at American universities and currently teaches literature at a secondary school in Malaga. She is the author of ‘Imperiofobia y leyenda negra’ (Imperiophobia and Black Legend) (Siruela, 2016), one of the most successful history essays of recent times, ´6 relatos ejemplares 6´ (6 Exemplary Stories 6) and ‘Fracasología: España y sus élites: de los afrancesados a nuestros días’ (Fracasology. Spain and its Elites: from the French Influence to Today), winner of the 2019 Espasa Prize.

Friday 9 october
20:45h. Sala Filarmonica
Raúl Cimas
Was born in Albacete in 1976. Since then he has worked to make us laugh. His curriculum is the perfect itinerary for a tour of the best comedy: ‘La hora chanante’ (The Amazing Hour), ‘Muchachada Nui’, ‘Buenafuente’, ‘Museo Coconut’ (Coconut Museum) and ‘Óxido Nitroso’ (Nitrous Oxide) are just some of the stops. He is also the author of several comic books pub-lished by Blackie Books: ‘Demasiada pasión por lo suyo’ (Too Much Passion for His Thing), ‘Orgullo Brutal’ (Brutal Pride) and the last, ´Prodigios’ (Wonders), an illustrated almanac of creatures that are fantastic and others that are regrettable.

Friday 9 october
20:45h. Sala Filarmonica
Edu Galán
(Oviedo, 1980) is, alongside Darío Adanti, one of the creators of the satirical magazine Mongolia. He also writes film reviews in the newspaper La Nueva España and in the magazine Cinemanía and he is a collaborator on Andreu Buenafuente´s programme ‘Late Motiv’. Co-director of the ‘Make them Laugh’ University Extension course at the University of Oviedo, which studies humour and its circumstances, he is the author of the short essay ‘Morir de pie. Stand-up (y Norteamérica)’ (Dying on your feet. Stand-up (and America). (Ed. Rema y vive, 2014) and he participated in the collective book ‘Todavía voy por la primera temporada’ (I´m Still on the First Season) (Léeme libros, 2014), has just published the essay ‘Síndrome Woody Allen’ (Woody Allen Syndrome) with Debate.
(Photo: Dani de Pablos para Ja)

Saturday 10 october
20:45h. Sala Filarmonica
Pantomima Full
is the comedy duo formed by Alberto Casado and Rober Bodegas, two comics who met when working as scriptwriters on the La Sexta programme ‘Sé lo que hicisteis’ (I Know What You Did). Their sketches are a parody of the average city dweller aged between 20 and 40, they enjoy great success on social networks and on their tours around Spanish theatres. Alberto Casado is a comic, scriptwriter and presenter on programmes such as ´Sé lo que hicisteis’ (I Know What You Did), ‘¿Qué está pasando?’ (What is Happening) and ‘Ese programa del que usted me habla’ (That Programme You Tell Me About). Rober Bodegas was going to be an interior designer until he won the programme ‘El Rey de la Comedia’ (The King of Comedy) on channel 1. He is currently one of the headlining comics on Comedy Central and has taken part in comedy programmes such as ‘Ilustres Ignorantes’ (Ignorant Illustrious People) (Canal+), ‘Sé lo que hicisteis’ (I Know What You Did) (La Sexta) and ‘Hazte un Selfi’ (Take a Selfie) (Cuatro).

Sunday 10 october
19:30h. Sala Filarmonica
Borja Crespo
(Bilbao, 1972) is a film director and producer, writer, illustrator, illustrator and comic book artist, cultural manager and artistic adviser. He currently collaborates with El Correo and other Vocento Group publications, and has produced columns, sections and reports for the newspaper El Mundo and other publications such as Primera Línea, Fotogramas and Rockdelux. He has also led and carried out work as an adviser and coordinator of events about cinema and comics. He directs and presents the radio programme La hora Canibal (The Cannibal Hour) on biFM.

Sunday 11 october
19:00h. Sala Filarmonica
Inés París
(Madrid 1962) is a director and scriptwriter for film and television. Among other films, she has directed and written ‘A mi madre le gustan las mujeres’ (My Mother Likes Women) (2002), ‘Semen, una historia de amor’ (Semen, a Love Sample), (2005), both alongside Dan-iela Fejerman, and ‘La noche que mi madre mató a mi padre’ (The Night My Mother Killed My Father) (2016). She has also been president of CIMA (Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media) and the SGAE Foundation. She has taught courses at Spanish and foreign universities and is currently a lecturer at the ECAM (Madrid Cinematography and Audiovisual School) and a teacher on the Masters in scriptwriting at Carlos III University of Madrid.

Sunday 11 october
19:00h. Sala Filarmonica
Juan Bas
(Bilbao, 1959). He worked as a scriptwriter on comics (El Víbora, Cimoc…) and television series (Farmacia de guardia, Turno de oficio…). Among other works, he has published the volumes of stories ‘Páginas ocultas de la historia’, written with Fernando Marías, and ´La taberna de los 3 monos´. The novels ‘El oro de los carlistas’, ‘Alacranes en su tinta’, ‘La cuenta atrás’, ‘Voracidad’, Basque Prize for Literature, ‘Ostras para Dimitri’, ‘Pájaros quemados’ and ‘El refugio de los canallas’. The unclassifiable works ‘Tratado sobre la resaca’ and ‘La resaca del amor’, and the compilation of articles ‘El número de tontos’. His work has been translated into French, German, Italian, Russian, Bulgarian, Norwegian and Basque. He is an opinion columnist for El Correo. In 2010 he came up with the idea of the Ja! Bilbao Festival, and he directs it.

Collages of Asier Sanz
Metro Bilbao 15 sep. – 15 oct.
Asier Sanz
(Bilbao, 1969) is an illustrator, cartoonist and collage artist. He began publishing in the news-paper Bilbao in 1987, before continuing his career at Deia, ETB, TVE and Mundo Deportivo. Since 1999, he has also been part of the duo of cartoonists Asier and Javier. This relationship has led to daily comic strips in Diario 16 and Diario Metro, and he also collaborates on El Jueves, Deia, Onda Vasca, Orgullo y Satisfacción (Pride and Satisfaction), the newspaper Bil-bao and 20minutos. He has devised and produced advertising campaigns and illustrated several books. His work has been awarded several international prizes.