Focus on Spain

7 films
Spanish documentarians focus on a variety of themes and present the complexity of our world. They tell us about everyday life of the residents of a refugee camp in Western Sahara, about reflections of shepherds tending their herds next to a laboratory developing a Covid-19 vaccine. We’ll meet a strong woman who wants to start a new life, a charismatic musician introducing us to the underground world of Spain from the period of the political system transformation, or Basque women tortured by representatives of the state in the early 21st century and, finally, we will see the last picture of Carlos Saura asking questions about the essence of art while looking at contemporary murals and pre-historic cave paintings.

  • Air (Aire)

    dir. Ricardo Íscar
    dok2022

    For the protagonist, breathing therapy and anti-stress techniques become a starting point for a life change. He enters the world of freediving, i.e. diving while breadth-holding. Risking his life, he starts practicing holding his breath for increasingly longer periods of time. Where is the boundary of his capabilities?

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    film still Air
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  • El Drogas

    dir. Natxo Leuza
    dok2022

    Natxo Leuza’s music documentary can be best described using the words transformation, counterculture and music. The director allows the eponymous protagonist to take the audience on a journey through the underground world of the political transformation era in Spain. One of its symbols was El Drogas, the icon of the 1980s music counterculture.

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    film still El Drogas
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  • Fauna

    dir. Pau Faus
    dok2023

    The world of ‘Fauna’ is a reality of contrasts and contradictions. In Barcelona’s suburbs, two apparently unrelated stories are taking place – one in nature, while the other one – behind closed doors of a scientific lab. Can these worlds remain independent of each other?

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    film still Fauna
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  • The First Woman (La primera mujer)

    dir. Miguel Eek
    dok2022

    Eva is a woman in her forties. We meet her when she is a long-term patient of a psychiatric hospital. She is looking forward to the day when she will be able to leave the facility. As she repeatedly states, she dreams of ‘going at large’ and ‘being a normal person’. Yet what is a ‘normal life’ for her?

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    film still The First Woman
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  • The Time after the Rain (El temps després de la pluja)

    dir. Júlia Girós, Pol Picas, Nina Solà
    dok2021

    Young Mohamed Dih, who in Seville, returns to his birthplace – a refugee camp in Western Sahara. Time flows differently here: the times of the day are marked by calls to prayer and the seasons – by the rainfall. When a torrential downpour destroys his family’s home, the protagonist stays in the camp for longer to help to rebuild it.

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    film still The Time after the Rain
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  • The Walls Can Talk (Las paredes hablan)

    dir. Carlos Saura
    dok2022

    The documentary ‘Walls Can Talk’ is the last work of Carlos Saura. It is a cinematographic reflection of a mature artist on the role of art in human life from the pre-historic times until the present. Confronting cave paintings with the latest representations of urban art, the director is looking for an answer to the question about the nature of art.

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    film still The Walls Can Talk
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  • Two Breaths (Bi arnas)

    dir. Jon Mikel Fernandez Elorz
    dok2022

    The film uncompromisingly depicts actions of government officials, which took place behind the closed doors of Basque prisons. Iratxe Sorzabal and Nekane Txapartegi are women who were subjected to torture. Now they talk about their experiences. Their terrifying stories and those of many other female prisoners are confirmed by a forensic doctor.

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    film still Two Breaths
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