The Turkish documentary, directed by Koray Demir, and the Italian feature film, by Gianni Amelio,will be screened this afternoon at the Ibercaja Patio de la Infanta Foundation and the Cervantes cinema, at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. There will be discussions with the director, actor, and producer of the former, and with one of the leading actors of the latter.
The experiences of ten residents of Azuara who witnessed the Spanish Civil War are recounted by Erik Salvador in Los ojos que vieron (The Eyes That Saw), the latest Aragonese documentary in this edition, which has sold out its second screening.
The story of ‘Campo de batalla’ (Battlefield), the last feature film in competition in this fifth edition, is set in a military hospital in northern Italy in 1918, in the months leading up to the end of the First World War, where soldiers wounded at the front are gathered. Two medical officers, united by a deep friendship, work tirelessly there. Gabriel Montesi plays one of them, Stefano, who is uncompromising with soldiers who are there for self-inflicted wounds.
Montesi presented this Italian film directed by Gianni Amelio at a press conference at the Caesaraugusta Theater Museum, where he explained the great historical documentary work undertaken by the entire team and the difficulties he faced in playing his character, who had a tough and authoritarian profile: “I found it complex, because as an actor I always look for the human side, and in him I only saw despair, which led him to make those decisions, and that caused me a conflict between what I was doing as an actor and what I would have done as a person. My character is more soldier than person.”
The film can be seen tonight at 9:00 p.m. at the Cervantes cinema and will be presented by actor Rafa Maza. A few hours earlier, at 7:00 p.m., at the Fundación Ibercaja Patrio de la Infanta, the last documentary in competition will be screened. It is ‘Kut Al Amara’, a Turkish audiovisual directed by Koray Demir that deals with the siege of Kut al-Amara, an important episode of the First World War between the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire in 1916.
As Demir has pointed out, the documentary addresses the theme of freedom: “The British advanced to impose the ideal of freedom, but in some lands, especially in eastern Turkey, they were not well received because their freedom led to violent episodes. The reflection is that war is never a positive thing and our leaders should make their decisions taking into account the possible consequences.”
The director was accompanied at the press conference by his wife, Aynel Hayat, producer of the documentary, and his son, actor Alimrhan Demir. Kut Al Amara, a technically complex film incorporating graphics and slow motion, took the team four years to complete. They had to tackle difficult situations, such as filming in Iraq, “where just walking around with a camera is risky,” and having to take interviewees to other countries where they could speak more freely.”
At 12 noon at the Caesaraugusta Theater Museum, viewers were treated to the last Aragonese documentary of this edition: Los ojos que vieron (The Eyes That Saw) by Erik Salvador, which recounts the experiences of ten residents of Azuara (Zaragoza) who, as children, were direct witnesses to the Spanish Civil War. The documentary, co-produced by the Azuara City Council, premiered in that municipality, and Saraqusta was its second “premiere,” where it was sold out.
Erik Salvador said that the team is very satisfied to have brought this work to fruition because it addressed “a subject that was practically taboo in the town, and we are getting everyone to like it. In fact, we realized that there were people who needed to tell this story. Ultimately, ”we must value memory, and although history is never entirely objective, we have tried to present the facts through testimonies, without making judgments, prioritizing the documentary value of memory.” The director was accompanied at the press conference by the producer, José Lezcano, and both highlighted the difficulty of finding images from the period, which in the case of ‘Los ojos que vieron’ (The Eyes That Saw) comes from two archives, the Alfonso Arteseros Collection and the Italian Luce Archive.
The last round table discussion of this edition was entitled ‘The historical cinema of Ridley Scott’. The team behind the podcast ‘El sótano de Bruce’ was responsible for analyzing the director’s audiovisual works, which include classic titles such as ‘Gladiator’. The film celebrates its 25th anniversary since its release this year and was screened yesterday as part of the Saraqusta Film Festival in the Plaza del Pilar with sold out.
In addition to the screenings on this last day, there was also ‘Arqueomanía, los elegidos de Atón’ (Archeomania, the chosen ones of Aten). ‘Arqueomanía’ is a series of archaeological and anthropological research documentaries by RTVE, directed by former minister Manuel Pimentel, which showcases the archaeological heritage of different places. The episode, which will be shown at 5:00 p.m. in the Patio de la Infanta as part of Panorama Saraqusta, focuses on the Egyptians.
Tickets for Saraqusta Film Festival screenings and the closing gala are available through the festival’s official website, saraqustafilmfestival.com.
Saraqusta Film Festival is co-organized by the Zaragoza City Council and Cosmos Fan, with the support of the Government of Aragon as an institutional partner, the Ibercaja Foundation as the main partner, and Ibercaja, Carné Joven de Aragón, Aragón Alimentos, and Arafilmfest as collaborators.