Between 1959 and 1981, the Franco regime had over 33,000 bodies transferred from more than 500 mass graves across Spain to the Valle de los Caídos – a monumental mausoleum erected to glorify the fascist victory. Decades later, relatives are still searching for the remains of their loved ones. Three families follow in the footsteps of the disappeared and encounter bureaucratic, legal and social obstacles that persist to this day. Drawing on director Manuel Correa’s own research as part of Forensic Architecture, a research agency that investigates state and corporate violence, the film reconstructs in meticulous detail what the regime sought to conceal. Digital maps, citizens’ archives, official documents and new forensic technologies reveal what remained hidden for decades. The result is a topography of terror that visualises the extent of systematic violence and brings to light the history buried beneath fascist monumentalism.

Seggen Mikael