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Filmclub mei | The Teacher Who Promised the Sea

Patricia Font
Tue 6 May - Wed 28 May
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In 1935, Antoni Benaiges is appointed as a teacher in a small, remote village in Burgos, Spain. His class consists of a group of boys and girls aged six to twelve, for whom education had, until then, been strict and traditional. But Benaiges does things differently. He brings a printing press and encourages the children to write about their dreams and ambitions. He also makes a remarkable promise: one day, he will take them to see the sea, a world still unknown to them.

Seventy-five years later, Ariadna, the granddaughter of one of his students, uncovers the touching and forgotten story behind that promise. Her search for the remains of her great-grandfather, one of the many who "disappeared" during the Spanish Civil War, leads her to a mass grave in Burgos. There, she uncovers the fate of Benaiges, whose ideals and innovative teaching methods made him a target.

The Teacher Who Promised the Sea is a powerful historical drama based on the true story of Antoni Benaiges (1903–1936) and the novel El maestro que prometió el mar by Francesc Escribano. In addition to writing the book, Escribano also served as a producer on the film. Together with director Patricia Font, he delivers a moving film about the pain that still lingers in Spanish society, but also a tribute to a man who believed in his students’ future and a promise that, against all odds, lives on.

Direction
Patricia Font
Cast
Laia Costa, Enric Auquer
Duration
105 min
RELEASE
Thu 12 Jun
Year
2023
Country
Spain
Language
Spanish
Subtitles
Dutch
  • Watch out with children under 9
  • Fear
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