The bombing of Guernica in documentary film

This article examines the way in which the April 1937 bombing of Guernica has been represented, either as an isolated episode or as part of the broader development of the Spanish Civil War, in documentaries created in regional, national and international production contexts. It draws attention to the techniques used in these films, mostly made for television, to reach viewers that – since they belong to multiple interpretative communities – are bound to understand the war in different ways. The study considers some of the ways in which the relationship between this historical event and Pablo Picasso’s Guernica both memorializes and universalizes the episode as a discursive element. I argue that this process contributes to framing events of the past both independently and as part of a cycle of commemorative junctures that comprise a regular schedule of anniversaries

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Documentary film · Framing (construction · Media studies · PICASSO · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Visual arts · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Spanish Culture and Identity · Spanish History and Politics