The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

media release: A Free Documentary Film Series ~ October 16-17, 2024, Pyle Center, University of Wisconsin Campus, 702 Langdon Street, Madison

October 16: The Last Cause 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. [ An Overview]

October 17: The Good Fight 7 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. [The Abraham Lincoln Brigade]

October 17: Into the Fire 9 p.m. – 10 p.m. [ U.S. Women ]

With more than 35,000 civilian soldiers responding from more than 100 nations to the call to support the anti-fascist cause in Spain in opposing Spain’s General Francisco Franco, the historic three-year’s war for a democratic Spain, 1936-1939, offers cogent material for film.

In 1976 the 3-part Canadian documentary film, The Last Cause, launched a ground-breaking consideration of a war lost but not in vain. Published by the Harvard Film Archive, the documentary was directed by Stephen K. Franklin and Alex Cramer. The Canadian film was shown on CBC-TV in the early 1980s.

In 1983 the documentary film The Good Fight. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the Spanish Civil War appeared, focusing attention on the specific heroism of 3,200 volunteers of the aptly named Abraham Lincoln Brigade, from the United States. This film is narrated by the well-known oral-historian Studs Terkel [1912-2008], featuring interviews with 11 veterans.

The anti-fascist fight against Franco, who was supported militarily by fascist Germany under Adolf Hitler and fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, drew women into battle as well as men. In 2002, the film, Into the Fire. American Women in the Spanish Civil War, produced and directed by Julia Newman, documents the stories of nearly 80 women from the United States, who volunteered to take part in the historic international undertaking to oppose the anti-democratic government of Spain and its allied fascist forces.

[Sponsors include: the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, New York, NY; the South-Central Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Madison, WI; the International Labor History Association, Madison, WI.]