Celsa recalls Paraguay’s Stroessner dictatorship, her torture, her husband’s…
918 Nights
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
View on the Pragda STREAM site
On October 4th, 2007, Arantza, the director of the film, was detained and taken to prison. She remembers a few things about those days: endlessly walking around the prison exercise yard, swimming competitions, Rasha´s prison journey… After 918 nights locked up, Arantza is set free.
From then onwards, she recorded her memories and doubts, which are heard throughout the documentary as a kind of fragmented memoir.
Caution: This film contains explicit sexual scenes. The content may not be suitable for all audiences, and viewer discretion is strongly advised. Due to varying criteria for content ratings and age restrictions in different regions, Pragda STREAM recommends educators watch films in their entirety before assigning them to students.
"Santesteban deserves enormous respect for such an uncompromising and honest approach" - Cineuropa
"The director (...) is out of the most predictable registers." - Other Cinemas
"It involves an immersion in a personal story that occurred at a critical moment in the history of Euskadi" - El Salto
"Effective and intense." - Fred The Festival Insider
Citation
Main credits
Santesteban Perez, Arantza (film director)
Santesteban Perez, Arantza (screenwriter)
Santesteban Perez, Arantza (on-screen participant)
Fernández Pascal, Marian (film producer)
Lameiro, Marina (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Maddi Barber.
Distributor subjects
Basque Studies; Biography; Human Rights; Iberian Studies; Women; Criminal Justice; Fascism + RepressionKeywords
00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:40.620
The 4th of October 2007
00:02:41.330 --> 00:02:45.330
was the day we were arrested.
00:02:47.290 --> 00:02:50.080
We had a meeting
in the town of Segura.
00:02:51.710 --> 00:02:54.370
And those of us who went
00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:56.210
to the meeting
00:02:56.750 --> 00:03:00.460
belonged to a party
that had been illegalized,
00:03:01.330 --> 00:03:03.960
a leftist pro-independence party,
00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:08.660
that had been declared illegal
by a Spanish court.
00:03:10.910 --> 00:03:13.710
At the time
there were talks between ETA
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.410
and some Spanish political parties.
00:03:17.580 --> 00:03:20.000
And also with the Spanish Government.
00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.700
A series of talks had started
00:03:24.790 --> 00:03:28.160
aimed at solving a political conflict
00:03:28.330 --> 00:03:31.290
that had gone on for years.
00:03:38.410 --> 00:03:40.660
And while we were at that meeting,
00:03:42.790 --> 00:03:45.620
the National Police took over the town
00:03:47.830 --> 00:03:53.160
and put up roadblocks,
closing all possible accesses.
00:03:57.410 --> 00:04:00.870
Those of us who were
at the meeting knew
00:04:01.330 --> 00:04:04.910
that they would arrest us
sooner or later
00:04:06.660 --> 00:04:10.330
because they had been following us
for months.
00:04:13.790 --> 00:04:15.500
On that particular day
00:04:17.330 --> 00:04:20.700
the presence of the police
was tremendous.
00:04:20.830 --> 00:04:21.830
There were
00:04:22.700 --> 00:04:24.460
many policemen
00:04:25.790 --> 00:04:28.710
surrounding the place
where we were meeting.
00:04:29.500 --> 00:04:31.790
Even so, we tried avoiding them
00:04:31.960 --> 00:04:34.250
and leave in different cars.
00:04:35.710 --> 00:04:37.000
It was night time,
00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:40.160
which made it easier for us
00:04:41.330 --> 00:04:43.700
to try and get away from them.
00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:46.210
We got in different cars
00:04:46.830 --> 00:04:50.710
and we managed
to drive for a few meters
00:04:50.960 --> 00:04:52.830
before they stopped us.
00:04:54.330 --> 00:04:56.830
That's when we realized...
00:04:57.910 --> 00:05:00.750
That's when we realized
that the whole town
00:05:01.410 --> 00:05:02.830
had been occupied.
00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:06.960
Some of us managed to reach
00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:11.500
a car park, while other got no further
than the roundabout.
00:05:14.960 --> 00:05:17.790
That's where they blocked us
00:05:17.960 --> 00:05:21.080
and started arresting us.
00:05:23.410 --> 00:05:25.710
A lot of police cars came.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.120
All the policemen wore balaclavas.
00:05:29.580 --> 00:05:31.870
Then we all had to wait
00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.500
until our arrest warrants arrived,
00:05:35.960 --> 00:05:37.700
The arrest warrants stated
00:05:38.250 --> 00:05:40.540
that we were being arrested
00:05:41.250 --> 00:05:45.210
following orders from Court nº 5
assigned by the High Court
00:05:45.750 --> 00:05:48.330
from where judge Baltasar Garzón
00:05:48.790 --> 00:05:50.660
had started the whole process.
00:05:53.410 --> 00:05:57.500
Once they got the warrants,
they took us away one by one.
00:05:58.910 --> 00:06:00.710
They made me get in
00:06:02.620 --> 00:06:05.460
inside a car,
and once in the car I realized
00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:07.960
that the driver...
00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.250
I realized that the man driving
00:06:12.330 --> 00:06:14.870
was a well-known policeman
in Pamplona
00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:18.120
because in the torture sessions
00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:24.040
inflicted on young people,
00:06:24.830 --> 00:06:26.330
he took the lead.
00:06:55.580 --> 00:06:56.960
CENTRAL COURT Nº 5
00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:58.710
MADRID
GARCÍA GUTIÉRREZ ST.
00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:01.790
ACTUAL SITUATION OF
MARÍA ARÁNZAZU SANTESBAN PÉREZ
00:07:01.960 --> 00:07:04.370
JUDICIAL DECREE
MADRID, 22nd OCTOBER 2007
00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:07.580
FACTS: DURING THE PROCEEDINGS,
ON 7th OF OCTOBER 2007,
00:07:07.710 --> 00:07:09.710
AN ORDER OF IMPRISONMENT
WAS ISSUED
00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.870
AS A RESULT OF THE EVIDENCE FOUND.
00:07:14.080 --> 00:07:14.910
LEGAL GROUNDS:
00:07:15.080 --> 00:07:17.870
THE ACCUSED HAD A ROLE
OF RELEVANT RESPONSIBILITY
00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:20.750
IN THE SUSPECTED TERRORIST
SCHEME INVESTIGATED
00:07:20.910 --> 00:07:22.540
IN THE PRESENT PROCEEDINGS,
00:07:22.700 --> 00:07:25.080
THE RISK OF CRIMINAL RECURRENCE
IF SET FREE
00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:26.660
WAS CONSIDERED ELEVATED
00:07:26.790 --> 00:07:29.330
AS WELL AS THAT
OF AVOIDING THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:31.790
AS THE ACCUSED DID NOT RENOUNCE
HER STANCE
00:07:31.960 --> 00:07:35.210
REGARDING THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT,
SUPPORT AND ASSIMILATION
00:07:35.370 --> 00:07:37.870
IN THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION
ETA/BATASUNA
00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:41.660
AND SAID ORGANIZATION CONTINUES
WITH ITS CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.
00:07:41.790 --> 00:07:44.790
DECISION;
IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT BAIL FOR
00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.790
MARÍA ARÁNZAZU SANTESBAN PÉREZ
STARTING ON 7th OCTOBER 2007
00:07:50.250 --> 00:07:53.620
SO SAYS, ORDERS AND SIGNS
MR. BALTASAR GARZÓN REAL,
00:07:53.750 --> 00:07:56.290
MAGISTRATE AND JUDGE,
CENTRAL COURT Nº 5,
00:07:56.460 --> 00:07:57.910
HIGH COURT OF SPAIN.
00:07:58.080 --> 00:08:00.000
I HEREBY ATTEST TO THE ABOVE.
00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:03.290
ARRAIGNMENT: THE ABOVE ORDERS
SHALL BE CARRIED OUT.
00:08:06.460 --> 00:08:10.160
I've been waiting in a cell
in the High Court for three hours.
00:08:11.370 --> 00:08:13.290
Two policemen come for me.
00:08:14.700 --> 00:08:18.120
On our way to the judge's office,
one tells the other
00:08:19.290 --> 00:08:22.710
that over the week-end he watched
the car races with his family.
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.290
He then describes the car mechanics
with all sort of details.
00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:31.460
We walk into an office
00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:34.460
and I immediately recognize
judge Baltasar Garzón.
00:08:37.370 --> 00:08:39.620
He doesn't raise his eyes
from his desk.
00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:42.960
My lawyer is to my right.
00:08:44.040 --> 00:08:46.500
Then the public prosecutor
in his black robe.
00:08:47.910 --> 00:08:49.500
The two people on my left
00:08:49.870 --> 00:08:52.370
are from the Dignity and Justice
Association.
00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:55.000
They are the popular prosecution.
00:08:56.040 --> 00:08:58.750
One of them carries a huge folder.
00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:02.910
I notice it has my name
written in capital letters.
00:09:06.910 --> 00:09:08.660
They start speaking.
00:09:10.160 --> 00:09:12.660
My lawyer asks for my release.
00:09:13.870 --> 00:09:15.790
Garzón does not bother to look at me.
00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:18.710
I feel that they are talking
about somebody else..
00:09:19.290 --> 00:09:20.620
I'm sweating.
00:09:20.870 --> 00:09:23.080
It's hot is this carpeted room.
00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:27.210
The prosecutor requests
that I not be allowed to post bail.
00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:30.700
The woman from the Association
opens the folder.
00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:34.210
She mentions conferences and meetings
I supposedly went to.
00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.410
A press conference
with an internationalist committee.
00:09:38.710 --> 00:09:41.710
One with Feminist Associations
to organize March 8th.
00:09:42.710 --> 00:09:45.500
An endless list of police monitoring.
00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:51.660
I look at the pattern of the carpet.
00:09:53.290 --> 00:09:54.830
Abstract flowers
00:09:55.830 --> 00:09:57.330
one next to the other.
00:09:57.660 --> 00:09:59.040
An endless chain.
00:10:00.870 --> 00:10:02.500
I suddenly want to laugh,
00:10:02.910 --> 00:10:04.250
to roar with laughter.
00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:07.250
But I know it would be out of place.
00:10:07.750 --> 00:10:09.330
Just as I am out of place.
00:10:14.160 --> 00:10:21.790
918 NIGHTS
00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.330
Some NGO volunteers came today.
00:10:51.660 --> 00:10:53.830
It is Tamara's daughter's birthday.
00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:55.540
She turns two years old.
00:10:58.290 --> 00:11:00.580
We decorated our common room.
00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:06.370
These kind of celebrations
are special
00:11:06.540 --> 00:11:08.370
because they usually bring cameras.
00:11:12.040 --> 00:11:15.330
I wore my read sweater,
the one my mom gave me.
00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:23.250
Alexandra just came back
00:11:23.410 --> 00:11:26.040
from a conjugal visit
with her new boyfriend.
00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:32.330
She walks with a limp,
I ask her what's wrong.
00:11:34.290 --> 00:11:36.700
She tells me her boyfriend likes
to give it in the ass
00:11:36.910 --> 00:11:38.620
because he's Turkish.
00:11:43.790 --> 00:11:47.120
Someone brought her a cushion
so she can sit down while eating.
00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:59.500
Silvia, the sports instructor,
brought a camera.
00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:04.700
The first day she showed up,
she was scared of us.
00:12:05.540 --> 00:12:07.540
She expected us to be savages.
00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:12.460
Time's gone by
and now she is a friend.
00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:19.000
She came to see me last week
at the Palencia hospital.
00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:24.700
Two cops took me to the hospital
to be operated on.
00:12:26.160 --> 00:12:28.250
I crossed the hallways
00:12:28.410 --> 00:12:31.790
one cop in front, one behind
and me handcuffed between them.
00:12:34.410 --> 00:12:36.620
I noticed people staring at me.
00:12:36.750 --> 00:12:38.000
I felt embarrassed
00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:41.460
and walked in the pre-surgery room
with my head down.
00:12:44.460 --> 00:12:46.620
I hadn't fully woken up
from the anesthesia
00:12:46.750 --> 00:12:49.250
when they took me back to the prison.
00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.410
My parents and Silvia waited outside
the hospital.
00:12:58.540 --> 00:13:00.710
They didn't allow them to come in.
00:13:08.790 --> 00:13:11.620
They've placed a kind of stall
in the courtyard.
00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:20.700
We hear fairground music
instead of the usual announcements.
00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.790
Sofía likes heroin
more than anything else.
00:13:29.660 --> 00:13:32.290
She gets hooked and unhooked
time and time again.
00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:34.960
But she openly embraces
this way of life.
00:13:36.370 --> 00:13:39.500
Some friends have always looked
after her daughter.
00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:51.620
Isabel has told my fortune again.
00:13:53.540 --> 00:13:56.540
According to her,
the kings are the judges.
00:13:56.700 --> 00:13:59.580
The knights, the prosecutors,
and the jacks, the lawyers.
00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.580
She does her best to guess
my judicial future.
00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:09.580
No matter what comes out,
she tries to cheer me up.
00:14:11.370 --> 00:14:14.700
"Don't worry,
I know there were a lot of kings,
00:14:15.830 --> 00:14:18.750
but that's because
they're discussing your freedom."
00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:25.330
I love Isabel.
00:14:50.660 --> 00:14:52.660
Maite and I walk around
the courtyard.
00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:58.160
We do ten turns in one direction,
and ten in the other.
00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:02.790
The girls who've been here
a long time say
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.660
that if you always walk
in the same direction,
00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:08.540
one of your knees will suffer more
than the other.
00:15:10.910 --> 00:15:13.330
This way they still get injured,
00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:15.250
but not as fast.
00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:22.040
It's not easy to find someone
you can trust,
00:15:22.210 --> 00:15:24.120
but Maite is a good confidant.
00:15:25.540 --> 00:15:27.870
I tell her
what it was like in the Avila prison.
00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:32.580
About the very strict rules enforced
by Nerea.
00:15:35.160 --> 00:15:38.160
She despised us for saying
we were frustrated
00:15:38.330 --> 00:15:40.080
for being locked up.
00:15:40.330 --> 00:15:43.000
As if our weaknesses bothered her.
00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:48.960
Little by little, she forced us
to become model prisoners.
00:15:50.210 --> 00:15:52.790
Political prisoners could not give in
00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:55.160
to the prison institution.
00:15:56.460 --> 00:16:00.410
Political matters were always
above personal matters.
00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:07.040
She didn't approve of any contact
with regular inmates.
00:16:07.410 --> 00:16:09.160
She didn't trust them.
00:16:11.330 --> 00:16:13.540
None of us wanted to confront her
00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:16.660
and we ended up living
in an unbearable silence.
00:16:19.790 --> 00:16:22.500
I felt I wasn't making the grade.
00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:33.910
They've organized
a swimming competition,
00:16:34.160 --> 00:16:35.790
the 100-meters crawl.
00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:41.080
I dive in the water
00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:43.910
and start moving my arms and legs
as fast as I can.
00:16:44.250 --> 00:16:46.290
Suddenly, I realize that I've won.
00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.580
I'm the fastest swimmer in the jail.
00:16:54.370 --> 00:16:56.160
A small moment of joy.
00:16:56.370 --> 00:16:59.830
I beat all those guys pumped full
of steroids.
00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:07.960
We don't have anything in common,
00:17:08.120 --> 00:17:11.080
but I feel great surrounded
by so much muscle.
00:18:03.910 --> 00:18:05.960
I've seen the Brazilian guy today.
00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:09.330
His body and his skin make me
go wild.
00:18:10.790 --> 00:18:14.000
I don't think anyone's
ever fucked me this well.
00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:21.710
Let's hope the other girls
don't find out about him.
00:18:23.540 --> 00:18:26.620
I'm afraid of not making
the grade again.
00:18:29.870 --> 00:18:32.330
I should hide what we have going on.
00:23:02.040 --> 00:23:04.580
Rasha is an African inmate.
00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:09.210
She was sentenced
00:23:09.580 --> 00:23:12.710
to nine years for killing her husband.
00:23:15.870 --> 00:23:18.620
One Summer day,
00:23:20.620 --> 00:23:23.960
one of those really hot Summer day,
00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:28.710
and the heat is worse in jail
between concrete walls,
00:23:30.460 --> 00:23:32.000
Rasha took
00:23:32.790 --> 00:23:36.000
the pat of butter
they gave us with our breakfast,
00:23:37.410 --> 00:23:39.870
and smeared it
00:23:40.750 --> 00:23:41.830
on her face.
00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:46.330
After that, she put on a fur hat
00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:48.620
and went out to sunbathe.
00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:51.960
That's when we realized
00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:56.120
that she was gradually losing
her mind.
00:23:58.290 --> 00:23:59.500
Some other time
00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:02.290
we saw Rasha come out
00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:05.500
of her cell
00:24:06.120 --> 00:24:07.830
carrying a glass of water,
00:24:09.580 --> 00:24:11.210
and inside it,
00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.620
a bloodied sanitary towel.
00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:19.000
She was drinking it
like a herbal tea.
00:24:21.040 --> 00:24:22.710
We started getting worried.
00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:27.460
Another time there was
this terrible smell in the cell block.
00:24:28.290 --> 00:24:30.830
It was Rasha again.
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:35.460
She had begun to smear her excrements
on the walls of her cell.
00:24:37.330 --> 00:24:40.210
The other inmates said
she was possessed
00:24:41.250 --> 00:24:44.460
and performed black magic rituals
on her.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.250
They left rotten apples at her door.
00:24:48.040 --> 00:24:49.540
They threw salt
00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:52.710
on her bed, in her cell.
00:24:53.620 --> 00:24:56.960
But all these things
only upset Rasha more.
00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:00.290
The prison management
punished Rasha
00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:03.080
and locked her up in a cell
called "Crab".
00:25:03.790 --> 00:25:06.460
When we walked in the courtyard
in the morning,
00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:10.750
we could see Rasha looking out,
banging the window,
00:25:11.580 --> 00:25:12.750
screaming.
00:25:13.580 --> 00:25:16.210
That's when we tried
to do something,
00:25:16.870 --> 00:25:18.330
but it was too late.
00:26:40.580 --> 00:26:44.210
Yesterday I got a letter from a friend
with a lot of pictures.
00:26:46.040 --> 00:26:48.460
He had numbered each one
00:26:49.080 --> 00:26:52.120
and told me in the letter
what they were about.
00:26:54.370 --> 00:26:56.660
He is trying to make me feel
I was there.
00:27:32.870 --> 00:27:35.910
I see strangers completely drunk
00:27:37.290 --> 00:27:39.460
and all I feel is helplessness.
00:27:42.410 --> 00:27:44.500
I've been here for over two years.
00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:47.710
The outside world
belongs to a previous life.
00:28:05.330 --> 00:28:08.040
Here they say
that the love these pictures bring,
00:28:08.210 --> 00:28:09.700
help the inmates breathe.
00:28:12.250 --> 00:28:15.210
I try hard to feel that strength when
I receive them,
00:28:15.370 --> 00:28:17.210
but I often lose interest.
00:28:36.540 --> 00:28:38.160
I wrote to Julen today.
00:28:40.080 --> 00:28:42.540
I told him that to cope
with daily life here,
00:28:42.700 --> 00:28:45.410
slogans used in marches
don't help much.
00:28:47.830 --> 00:28:49.750
We need other kind of tools
00:28:49.910 --> 00:28:52.660
to overcome the feeling
of helplessness.
00:28:55.750 --> 00:28:57.660
I miss intimacy,
00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.210
being able to truly communicate
00:29:02.080 --> 00:29:04.040
what my daily life is like in here.
00:29:27.540 --> 00:29:30.830
I'm reading Rosa Luxemburg's letters,
00:29:32.580 --> 00:29:35.580
the ones she wrote in jail,
it somehow helps me.
00:29:35.750 --> 00:29:37.210
She says the following:
00:29:38.330 --> 00:29:41.910
My innermost self belongs more
to my titmice than to the comrades."
00:31:06.870 --> 00:31:10.040
Today I saw Rasha in the courtyard
wearing a fur hat.
00:31:10.210 --> 00:31:12.830
She was sunning herself,
it breaks my heart.
00:31:14.250 --> 00:31:16.500
I just can't get her image
out my head.
00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:33.620
Hello, Arantza.
00:32:34.790 --> 00:32:37.710
Unable to know
where the present begins and ends,
00:32:37.870 --> 00:32:40.830
I join a few letters to create words
that will take us far.
00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:49.370
On this painful night,
00:32:49.700 --> 00:32:52.540
I feel the world cannot breathe
under the sky.
00:32:53.210 --> 00:32:55.830
Not even the slightest breeze
00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:58.460
to lift this awful heat.
00:33:01.580 --> 00:33:04.580
The Albanian in the cell next door
is praying.
00:33:05.080 --> 00:33:08.700
I told him that in the Basque language
there are words
00:33:08.830 --> 00:33:10.870
that come from his god Allah, such as
00:33:11.460 --> 00:33:13.790
"alajaina" from "allah-jauna",
00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.330
"alafede" from "allah-fede".
00:33:16.620 --> 00:33:19.330
I told him before lock up.
00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:22.370
Perhaps he'll be grateful
00:33:22.540 --> 00:33:25.620
for this small discovery, who knows?
00:33:28.830 --> 00:33:31.250
The tale of the man,
the donkey and the child
00:33:31.910 --> 00:33:33.660
that I used to love
00:33:34.370 --> 00:33:38.620
leads me more towards reflection
than towards moral.
00:33:39.370 --> 00:33:42.040
But I'll use the donkey
to share with you
00:33:42.210 --> 00:33:44.540
what happened to me once
with some zebras.
00:33:47.210 --> 00:33:50.410
During the time I spent underground,
00:33:50.790 --> 00:33:52.870
we had a safety rendezvous
00:33:53.080 --> 00:33:55.540
in the municipal zoo
of a European city.
00:33:57.370 --> 00:33:58.710
If anything happened,
00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:02.540
if we ran out of contacts
or got out of touch,
00:34:03.410 --> 00:34:06.370
we had a monthly appointment
at the zebras.
00:34:06.620 --> 00:34:09.580
We knew that someone would come up
to rescue us.
00:34:11.620 --> 00:34:14.580
Anyway, during two months
I was the one
00:34:14.710 --> 00:34:16.960
who had to turn up
every other Saturday
00:34:17.120 --> 00:34:19.790
in case a "lost" comrade showed up,
00:34:21.460 --> 00:34:23.500
and if he did, I'd rescue him.
00:34:25.750 --> 00:34:28.080
During this endless waiting,
00:34:28.330 --> 00:34:30.710
I became friendly with the zebras
00:34:31.290 --> 00:34:33.330
and we often had pleasant chats.
00:34:34.540 --> 00:34:37.710
In my imagination,
I'd go over their legend,
00:34:39.620 --> 00:34:42.000
from the Maasai Mara
to the Serengeti.
00:34:44.120 --> 00:34:48.370
I'd ask them
about their age old migrations.
00:34:49.830 --> 00:34:50.910
But one day,
00:34:51.290 --> 00:34:55.410
I asked them a metaphorical question
I had used in a meeting.
00:34:59.250 --> 00:35:00.410
"What are you?"
00:35:00.710 --> 00:35:01.960
"¿Black donkeys
00:35:02.580 --> 00:35:04.790
with white stripes?"
00:35:06.410 --> 00:35:09.080
"Or white donkeys with black stripes?"
00:35:11.580 --> 00:35:13.910
And my friends the zebras
00:35:14.580 --> 00:35:16.580
answered as follows, Arantza:
00:35:18.790 --> 00:35:19.790
"What about you?
00:35:20.330 --> 00:35:23.000
"Are activists like you
00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:25.370
good people
00:35:25.910 --> 00:35:29.000
with bad habits
and a destructive behavior?"
00:35:31.250 --> 00:35:33.750
"Or are you bad and destructive people
00:35:34.790 --> 00:35:37.370
of good habits
who behave correctly?"
00:35:39.700 --> 00:35:43.330
"Are you noisy people
who make do with slogans?"
00:35:44.120 --> 00:35:46.870
"Or are you quiet and spiritual people
00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:49.960
who occasionally shout
and have noisy moments?"
00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:55.370
"Does your struggle make you happy
with the occasional sad day?"
00:35:56.750 --> 00:36:00.120
"Or do you follow a sad path
with the occasional happy day?"
00:36:01.620 --> 00:36:04.500
"Are you righteous and fair
with one other
00:36:05.580 --> 00:36:07.500
in spite of the occasional error?"
00:36:07.620 --> 00:36:10.160
"Or do you behave like pigs
00:36:10.710 --> 00:36:13.000
with occasional moments of fairness?"
00:36:15.040 --> 00:36:17.910
And they went on and on
with their questions.
00:36:18.660 --> 00:36:20.370
Since that day,
00:36:20.830 --> 00:36:23.500
I've never asked zebras
about their stripes.
00:36:54.620 --> 00:36:57.500
Tonight I was released
from the Zaragoza prison.
00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.500
Free at last.
00:37:02.330 --> 00:37:04.910
A friend took me home in his car.
00:37:07.460 --> 00:37:09.660
I had the sensation
we were going very fast.
00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:14.960
I had forgotten
what speed felt like.
00:37:19.460 --> 00:37:23.210
We get there and I see a lot
of people waiting in the square.
00:37:25.700 --> 00:37:28.290
I get out of the car
and everyone cheers.
00:37:29.830 --> 00:37:31.790
I feel the flashes from the cameras.
00:37:33.460 --> 00:37:36.330
Suddenly I catch sight
of my friends.
00:37:37.160 --> 00:37:39.460
I want to go and hug them,
00:37:41.120 --> 00:37:45.120
but the "txistulari" starts playing
and they dance the "aurresku".
00:37:48.700 --> 00:37:51.460
I can't hug them
until they finish dancing.
00:37:55.250 --> 00:37:57.620
I know that everyone's looking at me.
00:37:59.580 --> 00:38:02.040
And now I'm going to have
to say something,
00:38:02.700 --> 00:38:04.040
a speech,
00:38:04.790 --> 00:38:06.460
but I don't know what to say.
00:38:09.660 --> 00:38:12.830
A powerful noise is heard
and everyone starts running,
00:38:14.830 --> 00:38:17.250
There are police cars everywhere.
00:38:19.370 --> 00:38:20.700
They surround the square
00:38:20.870 --> 00:38:23.460
and start charging
against everyone present.
00:38:26.700 --> 00:38:29.750
My mom grabs me by the arm
and pulls me in a doorway.
00:38:33.790 --> 00:38:36.210
At least I won't have
to make a speech.
00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:55.160
I remember
00:39:56.660 --> 00:39:58.540
going out,
00:39:59.710 --> 00:40:02.000
going to shop in my neighborhood.
00:40:02.160 --> 00:40:03.710
I remember that,
00:40:08.250 --> 00:40:10.870
suddenly,
people started doing me favors.
00:40:12.460 --> 00:40:16.160
If I went to have a massage,
they wouldn't charge me for it.
00:40:18.500 --> 00:40:20.120
If I had a cup of coffee,
00:40:21.120 --> 00:40:22.750
no one
00:40:24.500 --> 00:40:25.960
would let me pay for it.
00:40:28.290 --> 00:40:29.540
I'd go
00:40:30.160 --> 00:40:31.660
into a shop
00:40:32.080 --> 00:40:34.290
to buy underwear
and they gave it to me.
00:40:35.330 --> 00:40:38.460
That's when I realized it was going
00:40:39.290 --> 00:40:40.620
to be like that
00:40:41.540 --> 00:40:43.960
from now on in my neighborhood.
00:40:45.750 --> 00:40:47.500
In a certain way,
00:40:48.210 --> 00:40:51.500
everyone needed me to fulfill
00:40:51.870 --> 00:40:53.960
their expectations.
00:40:55.460 --> 00:40:57.710
But I was already somewhere else.
00:40:59.290 --> 00:41:03.790
I didn't feel any of that,
that's not what I wanted.
00:41:05.120 --> 00:41:09.040
Deep inside of me,
I wanted to become anonymous.
00:41:09.700 --> 00:41:12.910
I needed to be anonymous,
to remain anonymous.
00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:15.710
So I decided,
00:41:17.120 --> 00:41:18.790
in order
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:21.870
to fulfill this process,
00:41:23.040 --> 00:41:25.580
to leave my neighborhood, my town
00:41:26.750 --> 00:41:28.710
and move somewhere else.
00:47:13.750 --> 00:47:17.790
This video was taken in 2013,
in Berlin.
00:47:21.660 --> 00:47:24.460
We are in an apartment in Berlin.
00:47:27.700 --> 00:47:31.660
I'm surrounded by people,
they're my new friends.
00:47:36.080 --> 00:47:38.910
They ask me to tell them
00:47:40.290 --> 00:47:41.870
about my life in jail.
00:47:44.210 --> 00:47:46.040
They want to make a film.
00:47:47.370 --> 00:47:48.620
But I don't want to.
00:47:49.750 --> 00:47:52.330
I don't want to be anyone's hero.
00:47:53.620 --> 00:47:55.750
Suddenly, I start talking
00:47:56.790 --> 00:47:58.120
and I just can't stop.
00:48:03.710 --> 00:48:05.460
I'd like to tell them
00:48:05.870 --> 00:48:08.750
that their admiration
is a burden for me.
00:48:42.790 --> 00:48:44.710
I recount with lots of details
00:48:46.580 --> 00:48:48.370
some of the scenes I lived through.
00:49:03.330 --> 00:49:05.250
I speak, I raise my voice,
00:49:07.290 --> 00:49:10.000
I gesticulate.
00:49:21.290 --> 00:49:22.960
I tell them
00:49:24.080 --> 00:49:26.330
what it was like
from my point of view,
00:49:29.330 --> 00:49:31.790
what it was like inside there.
00:49:38.960 --> 00:49:40.330
They laugh with me
00:49:40.750 --> 00:49:42.870
and I laugh with them.
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 65 minutes
Date: 2022
Genre: Expository
Language:
Grade: High School, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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