SECTIONS // 1936-1939

Las cajas españolas (The Spanish boxes)

Alberto Porlan
90' / 2004 / Spain
Web: www.dropastar.com
Spanish
English subtitled

From November 1936 to September 1939 the Civil War put an extremely significant part of Spanish artistic heritage under threat. The art accumulated throughout the years was at risk of being destroyed by the cruelty and violence of uncontrolled groups and the continuous bombings of Madrid.
The Republican government imposed the obligation to safeguard and protect this cultural art heritage and consequently created the Art Heritage Defence Council. The Council of Ministers decided that the National Treasury had to accompany the government wherever it went, and this is what it did on the journeys, first to Valencia and then to Barcelona, before the different advances made by the national troops.
The paintings of the so-called National Treasury were packed in special containers and were moved with strict, strategic safety measures. The International Committee for the Safeguarding of Spanish Art Treasures was established and the committee, which included leading international cultural figures, safeguarded the boxes until they were placed in the basements of the League of Nations in Geneva. Three years after leaving Madrid, the boxes returned to the Prado Museum. In good condition; not one was missing.

Main Festivals & Awards

2º Premio Mejor Documental sección "Tiempo de Historia" 49 Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid. SEMINCI 2004