This film is crafted from extremely sensitive material, perhaps the most painful kind imaginable. Letters Civil War prisoners wrote just hours before they died and that now, nine decades later, are read out by their relatives. Although these words of farewell show barbarism and injustice, more than anything they convey their gratitude to loved ones. Fernando Vílchez Rodríguez puts together a solid and particularly rigorous piece by interspersing the readings with observations of the Riojan landscape, often at magical hours. Shot entirely on Super-8, this work is a fundamental part of the Spanish filmography dealing with the issue of historical memory. (JHE)
2025 - Festival de Málaga - Official Selection of short documentaries
His films entail personal explorations into society, mainly through visual and literary archive material. His documentary short films La calma and Solo te puedo mostrar el colour had their world premieres in the Official Short Film Competition at the Berlinale (2011 and 2014, respectively) and have had a long run internationally. His work has been seen at prestigious festivals such as Karlovy Vary, Mar del Plata, Visions du Réel, La Havana, Punto de Vista, Jeonju, among others. His most recent short film, which he produced and co-directed, was the collective work El polvo ya no nubla nuestros ojos, a documentary short film that won the Special Jury Prize in Lima, the Grand Prize for Best Film at the Punto de Vista international festival in Pamplona, the award for Best International Short Film at L'Alternativa in Barcelona and the Special Jury Prize at FICValdivia in Chile, among others.