70 YEARS OF SILENCE – SPAIN, PASSING DOWN MEMORIES

by

Emile NAVARRO

54 minutes, 2010
Production :504 Productions / France

When Franco died in 1975, he had already organised his succession, so the transfer of power would be without problems. A transition orchestrated by the new king, Juan Carlos, to prevent recriminations and avoid the opening of old wounds after the civil war. But it is thought that during and after the civil war there were hundreds of thousands of summary executions, and now hundreds of mass graves are still untouched, covered over with shame or fear. It is estimated there are more than 29,000 unidentified bodies in some 800 secret mass graves. The Spanish are only just beginning to face up to this past, and it is escalating into a major part of Spanish life. Over the past few years many mass graves have been opened to identify the bodies, often at the request of the grandchildren. I am looking for the history of my own family, using the personal accounts of the fighters’ children. I am trying to break the taboo in my family about what happened during the civil war, on both sides – but it still weighs heavily.

Emile NAVARRO is a director and cameraman, born in 1946. Up until now he has made four documentaries: “Les Moros i Christianos” (1981, 52 minutes), “Les Faillas” (1982, 26 minutes), “De la Retirada à la Reconquista : Paroles de Républicains” (2007, 52 minutes) et “70 Ans de Silence” (2010, 54 minutes).