The Spanish documentary El Silencio de otros (The Silence of Others) was released in French cinemas on February 13th.
Produced by Pedro Almodovar’s production company, El Deseo, it was directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar.
The film gives voice to the victims of the crimes of the dictator Franco, committed during his regime from 1939 to 1975. Close relatives or friends of missing persons, of victims of torture or the scandal of stolen babies express their fears – breaking the taboo of silence to seek justice.
In 1977, two years after the death of General Franco, Spain voted a general amnesty. Though liberating political prisoners, it also protects Franco’s crimes against legal action. This “pact of forgetting” has never been repealed. In recent years voices have risen and victims are taking legal action to bring these crimes to trial – which don’t take place in Spain, but 10,000 kilometres away, in Argentina.
The Silence of Others is Almudena Carracedo’s second feature-length documentary. In her first film, Made in L.A, she followed three illegal immigrants in the United States. Forced to work in terrible conditions in garment sweatshops, they decide to fight against their employer.
The Silence of Others is distributed in France by Sophie Dullac Distribution. It was released in a few Spanish cinemas last autumn and was shown briefly in London in October, where it will be screened again between February 15th and the 21st at Bertha DocHouse. At the 2018 Berlinale it received the Panorama Audience Award and the Peace Prize, as well as the Best Documentary Award at the 2019 Goyas.
Sources: https://courrierinternational.com https://elpais.com
