The death of Guillem (La mort de Guillem) is a film that has been premiered at the Málaga Film Festival. The film is based on a real story, in the case of the antifascist Guillem Agulló. In the early morning of 11 April 1993, an 18-year-old boy was stabbed on his chest by a neonazi during a camp with friends in the Castilian village of Montanejos. Agulló was a native of Burjassot (Valencia). His family has since suffered, in addition to dozens of cases of judicial suicide, fascist attacks: every year, on the anniversary of his son's death, he continues to receive threats, anonymous calls and painted fascist symbols.

The judicial process framed the aggression in a "youth struggle", in which the "political barrier" was removed. The judge sentenced the murderer, Pedro Cuevas, to 14 years in prison, but served only four of them in prison, according to the same source. As if that were not enough, Cuevas presented himself to the municipal elections of 2007 in the locality of Valencia of Chiva, with the ultra-right party Alianza Nacional. He was tried last year in the framework of Operation Panzer, accused of being part of the neonazi organization Frente Antisistema (FAS). The process ended with the acquittal, as the Civil Guard listeners were declared null by the protesters.

The young Catalan director Carlos Marques-Marcet, who has already won the Golden Cake at the Festival of Málaga, has taken charge of bringing the history of Guillem to the big screen at the proposal of its producers. The film, which was originally to be presented in June in Valencia, had to be suspended by COVID-19 and was presented this Monday at the Málaga Film Festival.

Persecution

This was not the only obstacle, as the actor who was going to play Guillem Agullo thought of abandoning the project a few days before the essays, for fear of coinciding with the fate of the young Valencian woman. In addition, in Burjassot, the deceased’s home town, someone rebuked the shooting team and performed a portrait in memory of Vox on another painted in tribute to Guillem.

To illuminate the darkness

Guillem's mort shows a story that reflects all this violence and that, from a family point of view, shows the faces of grief and struggle. The murderers of Agulló sang the fascist hymn Cara al sol from the scene of the crime, as their friends confirmed during the judicial process. "I think it's very interesting to understand then what happened to see the similarities and differences with what's happening now," Marques-Marcet explained in an interview with Onda Vasca.

In 1993, the Spanish State was internationalizing, proud of the success of the Expo of Barcelona 92 and Seville. However, "there are still many things from the previous regime that have not left," said the 37-year-old filmmaker, who stressed that his generation has grown up with such controversial ideas that "transition could not be criticized."

Therefore, he argues that this is the right time to review history and understand where some unresolved situations arose: "It is very symptomatic that the working-class youths who killed Guillem opt for the far-right and upper classes. It's something that's happening. The Director asked the following question: What are we doing wrong? ". Guillem's Mort has been filmed to start giving answers.