The documentary in which the journalist Jordi Évole interview with the former leader of ETA Josu Ternerawhich will premiere in San Sebastian Film Festivalhas generated a loud opposition even days before its broadcast. So much so that numerous intellectuals, politicians, former politicians and victims of terrorism have signed a manifesto in which they ask the management of the contest to “exclude” this projection from their agenda for ” whitewash terrorism and trivialize very serious crimes” for which the ETA leader, “still a fugitive from justice, faces a tax petition for 2,354 years in prison».
Specifically, 500 citizens – “the vast majority Basque”, says the text – have signed this complaint in the last few hours, which was devised by former activists of the platform Basta Ya in San Sebastian. Leading the way are prominent names from the political, cultural and intellectual scene, key in the fight against terrorism in recent decades: Rosa Díez, Fernando Aramburu, Fernando Savater, Andrés Trapiello, Maite Pagazaurtundúa, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán, Carlos García Adanero, Marimar Blanco, Félix de Azúa o Ruben Mugica, among others. They demand that the festival – which takes place between September 22 and 30 – not broadcast the documentary.
The film, which is titled Don’t call me Vealhas been produced by Netflix Spain and will be premiered worldwide at the San Sebastián Film Festival. «It is essential that the film serves on a pedagogical level for that entire generation that has decided to forget or not look towards that place in our history that is very recent. “It is an exercise in historical memory,” declared Évole and Mario Sanchezco-directors of the documentary.
Carlos Martínez Gorriaránprofessor at the University of the Basque Country, co-founder of UPyD and signatory of the manifesto, regrets the “showcase” that the broadcast of the documentary about Josu Ternera represents. Doing so, he reflects in conversation with this newspaper, is putting out “a red carpet” for the former leader of ETA who delves into “the constant attempt at normalization” of the terrorist group with the help of public organizations. “There is a double standard, it is intolerable,” he believes.
“It supposes the triumph of the totalitarianism of ETA”, considers for his part the writer and columnist of EL MUNDO Andrés Trapiello, which has also adhered to the manifesto and denounces the “hypocrisy” and of Spanish cinema, which a few weeks ago criticized the withdrawal of films in some municipalities governed by the right but did not comment on a documentary that “launders the murderers.” The manifesto serves, he explains, to “portray” the management of a festival that sees no problem, he says, in the screening of an interview with one of the great leaders of ETA while in 2020 he ignored the director’s documentary Iñaki Arteta in which he showed the footprint of terrorism in the Basque Country.