Mourir à Madrid / To Die in Madrid

Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary category, this French production tackles the political conflicts that led to the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Its focus on the consolidation of power by the Nationalists and the international support for the Republicans reveals how 1930s Spain was a precursor to World War II. Archival footage interspersed with footage of contemporary Spain show the social and cultural costs of Franco's rise to power, including the execution of influential poet Federico García Lorca (1898–1936) and Basque priests and the destruction of Guernica.