This co-produced documentary reveals the appalling conditions of the internment camp at Argelès-sur-mer beach in the south of France, where some 100.000 Catalan and Spanish Republicans ended up after fleeing from Franco's advancing troops. The camp operated from February 1939 to September 1941.
The 90-minute documentary shows what daily life was like and contains over 20 testimonies as well as never-before-seen archiive footage and photographs. A special set was built on Argelès beach for the dramatized scenes, recreating the camp's main installation.
Conditions were wretched. Internees had to relieve themselves on the beach and their drinking water was contaminated. A makeshift hospital dispensed aspirins and nothing else. Scabies, lice and dysentery spread like wildfire and people died like flies.
The refugees raised their fists every morning in the Republican salute. It was an act defiance and helped internees find the strength to survive. Resistance also took more tangible forms. When the men were forced to work outside the camp, it was the women who rose up in defense of the members of the International Brigades who were to be deported to Africa. Argelès Camp documents these incidents and the daily struggle to maintain one's dignity and humanity in the face of die hadship.
The 90-minute documentary shows what daily life was like and contains over 20 testimonies as well as never-before-seen archiive footage and photographs. A special set was built on Argelès beach for the dramatized scenes, recreating the camp's main installation.
Conditions were wretched. Internees had to relieve themselves on the beach and their drinking water was contaminated. A makeshift hospital dispensed aspirins and nothing else. Scabies, lice and dysentery spread like wildfire and people died like flies.
The refugees raised their fists every morning in the Republican salute. It was an act defiance and helped internees find the strength to survive. Resistance also took more tangible forms. When the men were forced to work outside the camp, it was the women who rose up in defense of the members of the International Brigades who were to be deported to Africa. Argelès Camp documents these incidents and the daily struggle to maintain one's dignity and humanity in the face of die hadship.
