Synopsis
After the success of Franco´s Settlers, their first encounter with Franco’s dictatorship, filmmakers Dietmar Post and Lucía Palacios now tackle one of the most undisclosed chapters of European history: the allegedly organized extermination that took place in Spain under General Franco’s fascist dictatorship between 1936 and 1975 after he established his power with the help of Germany, Italy and Portugal. To this day no one has been prosecuted for the regime’s systematic atrocities; victims haven’t been rehabilitated. Over 100,000 people are still missing.
After a Spanish judge´s attempt to accuse Franco and his generals for crimes against humanity failed in 2010, Franco’s victims filed a complaint in Buenos Aires, known as “Querella Argentina”. Now for the first time, an Argentinian investigating judge, María Servini, has issued 24 international arrest warrants against high-ranking representatives of the Franco dictatorship. The filmmakers accompany her as she tries to initiate court proceedings against the accused, proving that a reappraisal of Spain’s darkest chapter is long overdue.
Franco on Trial debates specific crime cases presented in the Argentinean Lawsuit. By interweaving never-before-seen archival material with current footage and by delivering a historical contextualization of each case the film itself demonstrates new evidence. In one of the key scenes, the film creates a sense of the impending lawsuit’s actuality when one of the suspected perpetrators is confronted directly with the accusations by the plaintiff, the investigating judge and the plaintiff’s lawyer.
The film has been in the works for over 8 years. During that time the directors managed to gain access to people from both sides of the conflict, including the daughter of a general in the 1936 coup who still counts a silver-framed portrait and personal present of German Nazi-leader Hermann Goering among her possessions.
Franco on Trial reveals an almost forgotten part of 20th century European history and raises the question: Will the so-called “Argentinian Complaint” become a Spanish Nuremberg?
German Premiere
Movie premiere + panel discussion
Franco on Trial, the new film by documentary filmmakers Palacios and Post, celebrated its German premiere on October 16, 2018 in Berlin. More than 300 guests filled the iconic and historic Berlin cinema Babylon. The film’s theatrical release is being sponsored by The Spanish Embassy of Berlin, Instituto Cervantes, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Fighters and Friends of the Spanish Republic and the German Association of Spanish Teachers. The Spanish ambassador Ricardo Martínez and Wenke Christoph of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation held brief welcoming speeches, stressing that in times of new nationalist and racist movements, a film, such as Franco on Trial becomes a special importance.
After the screening of the film a panel discussion (Franco on Trial: Spain in the focus of international justice) took place featuring the following speakers:
Carlos Castresana (Former General State Prosecutor at the Spanish Supreme Court)
Fernando Martínez (Head of department of Historic Memory within the ministry of Justice)
Stefanie Schüler-Springorum (Historian and author of the book The Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939)
Lucía Palacios und Dietmar Post (Filmmakers)
Moderator Dieter Ingenschay (Professor for Spanish Literature and Culture at Humboldt-University)
The many spectators awaited eagerly the contribution by Fernando Martínez who very recently had been appointed Head of the newly created office for Historic Memory by the Spanish Government under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. His statements gave victims of the Franco dictatorship some hope. He promised that the boycott by the previous conservative government under Mariano Rajoy towards the Argentinean intent to take to justice the last living presumed criminals of the dictatorship will be ended. The entire debate can be watched online for free by registering at the play loud! archive & store
