THEMOVIES

Based on the true story of an idealistic and headstrong teacher Antoni Benaiges (Enric Auquer), appointed in 1935 in the village of Burgos in northern Spain. In a time when education was suffocatingly Catholic, Benaiges' students learn to experiment, think for themselves, and compile booklets. In short, love for language, writing, and knowledge in general. The children have never seen the sea, and the teacher does everything he can to get permission from the conservative villagers for a school trip to the sea. The film is a tribute to a unique teacher who is murdered without any scruples by ruthless reactionary forces. In Spain, to date, the remains of more than 12,000 people who disappeared during the civil war have been exhumed. Thousands of others are still missing. Through a frame narrative, Ariadna (Laia Costa), the great-granddaughter of one of the students, discovers the tragic story behind the teacher's endeavors. Fiction and facts are blended; but the deep wounds caused by the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship have not yet healed.