Who Am I? A State Matter: Spain’s stolen babies on a New York screen
For roughly sixty years, from the end of the Spanish Civil War well into the democratic era, newborns were taken from their mothers in Spain. Who Am I? A State Matter, a documentary by director Mercedes Resino and New York-based journalist and producer Esteban Creste, gives a voice to the mothers still searching for them and to adults who are only now questioning who they are. The film is a finalist for Best Documentary Feature Film at Films Infest (New York City), which has published a long interview with both filmmakers.
A story that felt familiar
Creste, who is of Argentine origin, went into exile in Spain with his family after the 1976 military coup in Argentina and spent his teenage years in Madrid. Years later, the stories of babies born in Argentina’s clandestine detention centres and handed to military families made Resino’s proposal feel close to home. The two co-wrote the film, which took almost three years, and paid for it themselves when no financing came through.
“We didn’t get funding for the production, but we were determined to do it anyway, and we did it.”
Creste used his journalism skills to find people affected and to research the archives, including Franco-era decrees from 1940 and 1941 that allowed the State to take children from imprisoned mothers and change their identities. Resino, who lives in Catalonia and previously directed Por ser mujer and Revolucionarias, edited the film.
Mothers who never stop
What stayed with the director most was the resilience of the women at the heart of the film and the fact that their search is passed down from one generation to the next.
“Above all, what strikes one is the strength of these women, who continue to fight in search of their children until the end of their days.”
The filmmakers make no claim to neutrality. They describe the film as a deliberate choice to let victims tell their truth, backed by documents and other testimonies, rather than a balanced account in which that truth gets diluted.
“Let’s say it clearly: we did this doc to give them a voice.”
New York audiences will have a chance to see it: the documentary is set to screen on 21 November at the Producers Club in New York, a session still to be confirmed in the festival schedule.
