The Silence of Others

The amnesty law passed in Spain after the dictatorship ended blocked the prosecution of crimes committed in that period. Forty years passed. The victims cannot bring a case inside the country. So a case is opened in Argentina, where a judge accepts the file on the basis of universal jurisdiction. The documentary follows that case. A woman in her nineties wants her father taken out of a mass grave. A woman is looking for the baby taken from her in hospital. A man who learns that his torturer still lives in the same neighbourhood walks past his door. Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar wrote and directed. It is a Spanish and American production; Pedro Almodovar is among the producers. The documentary was filmed over six years and followed the case from the beginning. The film won the Panorama audience award and the peace prize at the Berlin Film Festival. It was named best documentary at the 2019 Goya awards in Spain and made the Oscar shortlist. The matter it treats is the price of an amnesty law; the film argues that forgetting has not brought peace. The narrative describes the legal process patiently and asks for the viewer's attention. The documentary shows that street names and monuments have still not changed. The narrative is racing the old witnesses; some of them die while the case goes on. The ending says the case continues and offers no close. Its limit is context; the names and dates are dense for anyone unfamiliar with Spain's recent history. Who it is for: viewers of political documentary and stories about facing a past. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the legal detail dense, and the ending unresolved.