España 1936 (film)

Infobox Film
name = España 1936
director = Jean-Paul Le Chanois
producer = Luis Buñuel
writer = Luis Buñuel (story)
Pierre Unik (commentary)
narrator =
starring =
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Subsecretaría de Propaganda del Gobierno de la República
released = 1937
runtime = 35 mins (B/W)
country = Spain
language = Spanish
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0028838

A documentary short made by Luis Buñuel about the early days of the Spanish Civil War. It contains much genuine newsreel footage.

cquote|Among the unique scenes in this film, special mention should be made of the following, due to their value as historical documents: the speech of Alvarez del Vayo at the League of Nations, the speech of La Pasionaria in Paris, the defence of Irún and San Sebastián by the Basque militiamen and the battles in the streets of Carabanchel, Casa de Campo, Parque del Oeste and Somosierra. In all of them the heroism of the soldiers of the people reaches levels of unparalleled bravery. Never before have scenes of such realism been shown on the screen as in "España 1936", the most authentic and realistic documentary made of this war. ["El Sol" (Madrid, 6 June 1937).]

Further reading

*"Cinema as Political Propaganda during the Spanish Civil War: España 1936" by Magí Crusells, University of Barcelona, December 2004. [http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Ebre/article/viewFile/39919/39938 PDF download]

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