In the DOC. España section, the feature film La red Ponzán was presented on Tuesday 25 October at the Broadway cinemas. Directed by Ismael Gutiérrez, author of several documentary series, the film traces the life of Francisco Ponzán, also known as François Vidal.
“The love of the family had to be above political ideals”, summarised José Cabrero after the screening of the documentary about his great-uncle Ponzán. He was joined by director Ismael Gutiérrez, producer Yolanda Yolandoska Pérez and scriptwriter José Luis Hernández Arango.
“At the end of the documentary the key is that we have a problem in our country with memory”, concluded Hernández Arango, “all this was clandestine and secret and therefore there are many things that are not known”. “The Ponzán network was the last link of Pat O’Leary (evasion network) that operated throughout Europe.”
“These people come out of one war (Spanish Civil War) to get into another (World War II),” summarised Ismael Gutiérrez on the figure of the collaborators of the Ponzán network.
Yolanda Yolandoska confessed that it had taken them four months, but “I had my eyes in the archives, although I really enjoy delving into this type of history”.