Private Project

Making war. The last combatants from Benissa in the Spanish Civil War

Making war is not a documentary about reds or fascists, winners or defeated… This documentary is the story of a war, the story of a country and a town narrated by their own protagonists. This documentary tells about the history of Benissa and the role that lived the town and their citizens in this conflict. We don’t want to reopen old wounds nor remember bad memories, but the future generations to know what was this conflict and the pain and misery that wars have.
This is a professional documentary about the experiences of the soldiers in the Spanish Civil War. They appear 26 men who fought in the war, but they don’t only explain their experience in the beattlefront; they talk about health, the life in rearguard… Firstly they talk about the beginning of the war in Benissa (Alicante, SPAIN). Secondly they talk about their life in the front. At the end, they explain their lives in the exile and give their own opinion about the war. Our purpose with these testimonies are to recover the dignity of the defeated people, and to defend peace and democracy as values of coexistence.

  • Luis Botella Ivars
    Director
  • Luis Botella Ivars
    Writer
  • Robert Llopis i Sendra
    Writer
  • Luis Botella Ivars
    Producer
    Main producer
  • Robert Llopis i Sendra
    Producer
    Executive producer
  • Vicent Artur Moreno
    Key Cast
    Broadcaster
  • Víctor Pineda Ribes
    Key Cast
    Editor
  • 26 soldiers who fought in the Spanish Civil War
    Key Cast
    Testimonies
  • Maria del Mar López Roldán
    Subtitlers
    English, Spanish & Catalan subtitler
  • Rose Cooper
    Subtitlers
    English proofreading
  • Armando Federico Salle
    Subtitlers
    Italian subtitler
  • Carmen Martí Fabra
    Subtitlers
    French subtitler
  • Luis Botella Ivars
    Cameras
  • Eduard Torres
    Cameras
  • Iván Burriel
    Cameras
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Fer la guerra. Els últims combatents de Benissa en la Guerra Civil.
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 16, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Spain
  • Country of Filming:
    Spain
  • Language:
    Catalan
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Luis Botella Ivars

Luis Botella Ivars is the director and co-writer of this film. He’s graduated in History by the Valencia University and has two masters in Modern History and Education. He speaks Catalan, Spanish and English languages. Last year co-published with Robert Llopis i Sendra the book Making war. Dictionary and testimonies of the combatants from Benissa in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is our first documentary. It’s based on the book "Making war. Dictionary and testimonies of the combatants from Benissa in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)" (*First Prize in the 25th April Awards) written by Robert Llopis i Sendra and Luis Botella Ivars, published this year. The first step was to research in the archive the people who went to the war in Benissa and to analyze their personal situation during the conflict. Secondly, we recorded the last people who was living and fought in the war. All this information was inserted in the documentary. The real importance of this film is that we took advantage of the last chance to film this people and to provide a context for this accurate film. This is not only the history of a town; this is the history of Spain.

This documentary would not have been possible without the work of:

- Robert Llopis i Sendra is the co-writter and executive producer. He has a degree in Social Work for the University of Alicante and he's a researcher on International Brigades, specialized in the last period of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). He published and co-writted “El hospital y centro de permisos de las Brigadas Internacionales en Benissa. Bases para su estudio” (2007), “Las Brigadas Internacionales: 70 años de memoria histórica” (2007), “Gandia i el seu port, març de 1939. El penúltim acte de la Segona República Espanyola” (2011), “La agonía de la II República. Del golpe de Casado al final de la guerra” (2014), and this year he published Making war. Dictionary and testimonies of the combatants from Benissa in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

- Victor Pineda Ribes is the editor. He was born at 1980 and since his early years he shown interested in entertainment technology. Nowadays, he is a teacher in the IES La Marxadella in Torrent (Spain). He teaches Audio Engineering, Photography, Lighting and Video editing and post production. He has contributed in several short films and music recordings in last years.

- Vicent Artur Moreno is the broadcaster. He’s degrees in archeology, history of art, journalism and Doctor in Audio-visual Communication by the University of Valencia. He works as a teacher in the University of Valencia, University of Castellón Jaume I (UJI), University of Barcelona and Pompeu Fabra University. Last years he worked as a professor in pedagogical innovation and in the Centro de Interpretación del Quijote en El Toboso. In the communication fields he worked as a broadcaster, actor and screenwriter for Canal 9 (Valencian television), TV3 (Catalan television) and RAI (Italian television). From their scripts for Adarve Productions we can highlight: Jaume I, Nicolau Primitiu, Corona d’Aragó, Almansa 1707, Roís de Corella, Els camins del grial…