Blue Files
(Karpeta urdinak)
Ander Iriarte | Documentary
2022 | 113 minutes | Spain, France
Basque filmmaker Ander Iriarte suspects that his father was tortured and a recent study carried out in the Basque Country can prove it scientifically.
Synopsis
Basque filmmaker Ander Iriarte always suspected that his father had been tortured by the Spanish police. But he wasn’t sure, because his father never spoke of the past. This changed when his father participated in an extensive research project into torture in the Basque Country between 1960 and 2014, promoted by the Basque Government’s Peace Plan.
The videotaped witness statements reveal horrific torture practices. To find out what torture is and what it does to victims, Iriarte interviewed psychiatrists, lawyers and other experts who conducted the study. They discuss in detail the Istanbul Protocol, adopted by the United Nations in 1999, which provided guidelines for the investigation and documentation of torture and other inhuman treatment. The disturbing conclusion is that torture is not the work of deranged sadists, but is systemically embedded in societies.
Reviews
"I can no longer conceive the report without the film" — Paco Echevarría
"Although directed with a cold head, a documentary that squeezes your heart with one hand." — Aitor Merino
"The story of a painful, uncomfortable, and deliberately silenced truth." — Oskar Matute
“Search, investigate, do not judge, show; as if Ken Loach met Freud.” — Javier Tolentino
"In the year 2022, a documentary that particularly moved me, since I saw it, I can't get it out of my head" — Gaiza Izagirre
“We cannot understand torture without the psychological component and this documentary shows the suffering it generates in all its crudeness." — Pilar Garrido
"It shames us because it puts before our eyes the evidence of the brutality of the State long silenced and denied." — Aitor Gabilondo
"A must-see documentary to discover all the truth." — Maixabel Lasa
"It is clearly shown how the state, instead of protecting, has acted with complete brutality and impunity." — María Jauregi
Citation
Main credits
Iriarte, Ander (film director)
Iriarte, Ander (screenwriter)
Gil, Jorge (screenwriter)
Retegi, Olatz (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Eñaut Castagnet; editing, Laurent Dufreche, Ander Iriarte, Amaia Merino; music, Paula Olaz.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Activism
Basque Studies
Criminal Justice
Fascism + Repression
History
Human Rights
Mental Health
Political Science
Race + Ethnicity
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
San Sebastian International Film Festival; IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; FIPADOC; DocsMX; Documenta Madrid - Audience Award; Censurados Film Festival - Best International Film; Bolivia Himan Rights Film Festival - Best International Film
DIRECTOR: Ander Iriarte
NATIONALITY: Spain, France
YEAR: 2022
GENRE: Documentary
LANGUAGE: Spanish; Basque
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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