Mientras Dure La Guerra (While At War) - English subtitled
Set in the first months of the Spanish Civil War, this riveting chamber drama from director Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside) tracks the country’s slide into fascism.
July, 1936. Nationalists take to the streets of Salamanca to declare their resistance against the Second Spanish Republic. Miguel de Unamuno, revered author, professor, and rector at the University of Salamanca, pays the uprising little mind until, one by one, his colleagues are rounded up on charges of affiliation. Initially considered a friend to the Nationalists, Unamuno believes he can use his influence to liberate the innocent; for all his wisdom and experience, this great man of letters realizes too late that his country is slipping into a fascist mire from which it will not emerge for decades.
WHILE AT WAR scrutinizes complex historical events that are typically glossed over: among the film’s most fascinating aspects is its depiction of General Franco as a man whose leadership was far from predestined. It’s a story about the past which urgently questions our present day.