Almudena Carracedo directed and produced her debut feature, the Emmy-winning documentary “Made in L.A.” She also directed the award-winning short “Welcome, A Docu-Journey of Impressions.” Carracedo was born in Spain and developed her career in the U.S. She is a Guggenheim Fellow.
“The Silence of Others” will premiere at the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival on April 27. Robert Bahar co-directed the film.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
AC: “The Silence of Others” reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Filmed over six years, the film follows victims and survivors as they organize the groundbreaking Argentine Lawsuit and fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity in a country where these issues still stir divisions four decades into democracy.
I made the film in collaboration with my partner, Robert Bahar. We are thrilled that it premiered at the 2018 Berlinale where it won both the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Berlinale Peace Film Prize.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
AC: As a child growing up in Spain during the transition from dictatorship to democracy in the late 1970s, I was surrounded by these issues. We, and our society, were all highly politicized, and I remember the hopes and dreams of my parents and their friends. Those early memories have always stayed with me.
I remember exiting the film “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” Ken Loach’s 2006 film about the conflict in Ireland from the perspective of a divided family. I cried for hours afterwards. Something about it pained me deep inside, and brought back our history, and all the dreams and disappointments of my parents’ generation.
Robert and I were about to finish “Made in L.A.,” our 2007 film about the plight of undocumented immigrant women in L.A., and I felt that I owed something to my own country of origin. That pain is the seed of this film.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
AC: “That could have been me” or “that could have been my grandmother.” I’d like people to be able to walk in the shoes of these victims and survivors of crimes of the Franco dictatorship, and to consider what it would be like to be fighting for decades to recover a loved one’s remains from a mass grave, or to be seeking the truth about a stolen child.
I would also love for them to reflect upon how similar situations have played out in other societies. That’s what film can do — it can be an empathy-engine. It can make us feel, think, and question.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
AC: Everything! This film took seven years to make, which is how we make films — a slow cooking process where we try to capture the evolution of people and processes.
Funding is always a challenge, and such a long filmmaking process required 90-plus funding applications and weathering many rejections.
Above all, as a filmmaker I had lots of doubts. There is so much unresolved pain and so much horror in this story, and the responsibility to do justice to that pain would keep me awake at night. Would we be able to capture the complexity of the situation? Would we be able to honor the journey and struggle of so many thousands and thousands of people?
In the end, I had to relax and trust the process. It’s taken so many years but now I do feel that the film does justice to their plight, and also that it offers complexity and context.
On a personal level, filmmaking implies many sacrifices. On top of that, filming verité documentaries means that we don’t choose the shooting schedule, and that work collides with family and parental roles all the time!
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
AC: “The Silence of Others” was funded slowly, step by step, over seven years with a combination of grants and support from United States public television: ITVS, POV, and LPB.
The fundraising was very difficult, and we wrote more than 90 funding applications, which involved 2000-plus pages! Eventually — over the course of seven years — about 15 funders came on board, which enabled us to make the film. So our funding journey has a happy ending, but the truth is that it was very, very challenging.
Of course, with the gift of hindsight, I can also see how, through all that writing, we were learning a lot about the film, clarifying our intentions, and developing and honing what the film would be.
We are incredibly grateful to our funders for believing in us and in the importance of this story for so many years!
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Hot Docs?
AC: We are thrilled to be doing the North American premiere of “The Silence of Others” at Hot Docs and to share it with the industry, many of our funders, our peers, and, of course, with Toronto audiences!
The film had its world premiere at the Berlinale, which was such a beautiful and emotional launch into the world. There were 24 of us onstage between cast and crew and the film won the Audience Award.
We are bringing some special guests to Hot Docs, too, and we hope that the experience will be equally powerful for Toronto audiences!
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
AC: Worst advice: “Drop the subject. No one wants to hear about it.”
Best advice: “Trust the process,” which came from Robert. I am glad I followed his advice!
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
AC: Persevere! Filmmaking is not easy. There are so many hats you will have to wear, and so many obstacles you will have to overcome.
Being a female director and cinematographer means that some people will not necessarily take you seriously, but it also means that a lot of other people will believe in you and be by your side in that struggle!
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
AC: As a film student, I was deeply moved by Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County, USA” and how powerfully she could cover social issues as cinema. And Agnes Vardá’s “The Gleaners and I.” Her mixed style, poetic-verité, really impacted me. I often return to these two for inspiration!
W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women and some men in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?
AC: While I salute all efforts being made in the film industry, and in any industry, to stop and prevent assault and harassment, I think it is important to remember that this is a complex, systemic issue that will not be easy to solve. It is clear to me that the kind of impunity that enabled some of the assaults and harassment currently in the headlines to happen — and to be covered up for so long — extends far beyond the film industry and has roots deep in our culture.
Many of us grow up in an education system and a society that ignores or devalues women and girls, and we are surrounded by media that reinforces these messages. Progress is being made, but there are so many little things — like gender-biased school textbooks, for example.
In general, these immediate efforts are very important, but I hope that we can draw bigger lessons from them, too — about striving towards a society that extends great respect for others, including women. I always keep in mind that this is a long fight that includes securing equal rights for all and in all aspects of life.
