Marco: The Invented Truth

Marco, the Invented Truth, co-directed by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño, is a Spanish film based on the real story of Enric Marco, who, despite never having been sent to a concentration camp, presented himself as a Nazi camp survivor and won Catalonia's highest civilian honor and the presidency of a survivors' association, before being exposed by a historian in 2005. Eduard Fernández, who gained 16 kilograms and shaved his head for the role, stars as Marco. The film premiered in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival on August 30, 2024, 18 years after the project's initial conception; it received five nominations at the 39th Goya Awards, with Fernández winning Best Actor and the film also winning Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Who it's for: anyone curious about a real person who won years of public trust with a fabricated Holocaust survival story, in a Spanish film completed after an 18 year production journey. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a clear, easy answer to "why did he lie," since the film doesn't offer a full explanation of that question.