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Buried memories of the Spanish Civil War are revealed when a woman searches for the remains of her grandfather’s father and discovers the story of an idealistic young teacher from Tarragona. Nana was created by Manuel de Falla. I was very lucky to discover this film on a Singapore Airlines flight! It tells the story of a handsome, progressive teacher, a follower of the little-known and rather revolutionary “Frienet Method”, who tries it out in a small village school in rural Spain. Bad timing! He stands up to the local priest, a dead authoritarian, and then finds himself in the hands of the authoritarian government and Franco’s army during the Spanish Civil War. He is beaten, paraded almost dead in front of his young students, then murdered, and his body thrown away, never to be found. The film rediscovers his story through the attempts of the great-granddaughter of one of his students to find her great-grandfather’s burial in a mass grave. I found it very moving and a great testament to the humanity and spirit of this teacher. It deserves more attention and viewing on the Arthouse circuit, at least in the UK, Europe and where I live in Australia. Unfortunately, the "true story" The book it is based on doesn’t seem to be available in English yet.
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