“Mexican Suitcase” selected, reviewed
Trisha Ziff’s new documentary Mexican Suitcase (trailer, Kickstarter), on the photography and historical memory of the Spanish Civil War, was among the casualties of hurricane Irene; but before the New York DocuWeeks screenings were suspended yesterday, the film was officially selected for San Sebastián’s Made in Spain category, for the DocMiami International Film Festival, and as opening feature for the AFI Latin American Film Festival in Silver Spring, MD, on September 22. It also garnered positive reviews in the blogosphere, IndieWire, Aperture, and Time magazine:
Ziff weaves in personal, often painful accounts of biographies of those who had survived the war by fleeing Spain, many unable to forget even to this day. An exiled woman tenderly holds up an old, worn out fork while describing hunger she experienced as a child. Another man recalls his teenage years spent eating and sleeping beside his gun. Along with those interviews are ones with a new generation of Spaniards who were only babies when Franco finally stepped down in the early ’70s. Only now are they seeking to connect with a past that has been unknown to them. Ziff says, “I was impacted by how even today 70 years after the war how the haunting memories of repression, dictatorship impact life in contemporary Spain. How this exile still defines the identity of young people—three generations later, and what 30 years of fascism has meant for the Spanish people.”
More here.
The power of the voices of the past being heard again in the present is inexplicable, a priceless piece of history, captured before it can be lost forever. I eagerly look forward to screening this sometime, unlocking even more stories from the past to my mind.
The impact the war had on past generations and the impact it has on future generations even after seventy years shows the importance and significance of such an event. I was astounded to read that people of my generation still identify themselves with the war. This movie demonstrates how the impact of fascism still reverberates not only in Spain but around the globe.