Fernando Ruiz Vergara directed only Rocío (1980), a documentary cursed by many after its judicial censorship during the early years of democracy. He never managed to make another film. Years later, we dream of those unrealized films, hoping to bring them to life in the present as a gesture of resistance.
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Born in Andalusia in 1942, the director Fernando Ruiz Vergara worked in various artistic fields before moving to Portugal to escape the dictatorship of Spain's then-leader Francisco Franco. A supporter of the Spanish left, he returned to the country after Franco's death and directed the documentary Rocío (1980), which focuses on the Almonte massacre perpetrated by Franco's dictatorship during the Spanish Civil War. It was the only documentary that Ruiz Vergara ever made, and it ignited enormous controversy in Spain, leading to lawsuits and the film's confiscation. Ruiz Vergara was also punished for defamation. He returned to Portugal, where he continued working on conceiving new projects before his passing in 2011. Resistance Reels offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the dozens of notes, scripts, and archival materials he left behind, which it redefines as gestures of resistance. This work is both the story of a courageous director who recorded Spain's tragic modern history and ended up having to live out his life in a foreign land as a consequence, as well as a story about the dreams that he sought to pass on. It offers proof that even if film cannot exactly change the world, it can at least have a major impact on it. (CHUN Jinsu)
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Azhar Media, Alvarquero, Blablabla Media | jose@azharmedia.com
Alejandro ALVARADO JÓDAR, Concha BARQUERO ARTÉS
