Forgotten Places

is a short documentary film by Alistair Oldham that explores the architectural history of the Spanish Civil War in Barcelona.

In particular, the film follows local tour guides Nick Lloyd and Catherine Greenleagh and the Spanish Civil War tour that they conduct around the streets of the city, from Plaza de Catalunya to St Felip de Neri, revealing the hidden traces of the conflict that has otherwise been concealed by the legacy of the Spanish government’s Pact of Forgetting in its transition from fascism to becoming a constitutional monarchy. The film will lead to the Fossa de Pedreda, the cemetery on the edge of the city, where 1700 republicans murdered by the Franco regime are buried in a limestone quarry. Interviewees include representatives of the campaign for a museum of the Spanish Civil War to be built in Barcelona, as there is currently no such museum anywhere in Spain.

The film will explore the relationship of the architectural space of Barcelona and its own recent history, as well as how urban space is ideologically presented to modern mass tourism. In addition the film will also posit the case for a museum of the Spanish Civil War to be built in Barcelona. The film will be in English, but also translated into Spanish and Catalan.