The Teacher Who Promised the Sea | Directed by Patricia Font | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Filmed in six weeks on location around Barcelona and Briviesca, this Spanish film is based on the real story of Antoni Benaiges, a teacher from Catalonia who was assigned to teach in the little village school in the province of Burgos in 1935.
Going to the run-down school was not a priority for the children of the largely illiterate, rural population but Benaiges (Enric Auquer) had some new teaching methods to try out and he had a huge impact on the village.
However, the Spanish Civil War was just beginning and not everyone approved of the teacher’s outspoken political stance. As the fascists gained more power, political opponents were imprisoned or even killed and thrown into mass graves.
Jump to the present day when some of the mass graves are being dug up and Ariadna (Laia Costa) goes to the dig to see if she can find the remains of her great grandfather who was a pupil at the school at that time, as well as the teacher who had promised to take his class to the sea.
The Teacher Who Promised the Sea screens as part of the Spanish Film Festival -that will run from Thursday 13 June until Sunday 7 July at Palace Cinemas Raine Square, Luna Leederville and Luna on SX.
The 2024 Spanish Film Festival brings together female-led films exploring the themes on liberation, sexuality and empowerment, and also celebrates 120 years since the birth of Salvador Dali with a showcase of his films.
See the festival website for tickets and films including the opening night film The Movie Teller. Directed by multi-award winner Lone Scherfig and based on a popular novel, this film is a moving tribute to cinema and the magical power of storytelling as it follows a young woman’s coming of age in a Chilean mining town.
Lezly Herbert
