The Galíndez File

Fleeing Franco’s regime in Spain, Basque Republican nationalist Jesús de Galíndez (played by Eduard Fernández) ended up in New York City. There, he served as a delegate of the Autonomous Basque Government to the American government – but he also remained dedicated to defeating Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Leónides Trujillo, having lived in that country before settling in the United States. Galíndez’s disappearance from Manhattan in 1956 remains a mystery. Gerardo Herrero’s The Galíndez File, based on Spanish novelist Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s “Galíndez,” is a fictionalized account of the search for the truth about the fate of this freedom fighter. Arriving in Spain to work on her doctoral thesis about Galíndez, Muriel Colber (Saffron Burrows) receives a tip that leads her to the last people to have seen him alive. She discovers the controversy he caused in the Dominican Republic by publishing an exposé of Trujillo’s dictatorship – a work which became a major rallying point for Trujillo’s opponents – and travels from Spain to the Dominican Republic and Miami to uncover the secret behind his untimely demise. Unwittingly, she has opened a Pandora’s Box – and those responsible for Galíndez’s death are determined to keep their identities under wraps. Harvey Keitel plays Agent Robards, who tries to discourage Muriel’s investigation, even appealing to her thesis advisor to force her to switch topics. But Muriel is spurred on by her guilt about belonging to an empire that has caused decades of turmoil by meddling in Latin American politics. A past relationship with a Chilean exile has taught her that the disenfranchised are often dismissed, and her Spanish boyfriend Ricardo (Guillermo Toledo) is instrumental in ensuring that Galíndez’s memory will not be forgotten. Shot in Spanish and English and set in 1956 and the eighties, The Galíndez File is a celebration of – and testament to – those who have given their lives for causes they believe in. It is an inspiring homage to the legacy of an overlooked hero.