Marina Freixa always knew there was something dark and unspoken about her family. Her mother had grown up under Spain's decades-long dictatorship, which ended in 1975, but the details of her childhood were hazy. That changed one Christmas a decade ago when Marina's mother, Mariona Roca Tort, began to speak in a cloud of cigarette smoke and drained wine glasses.
Mariona revealed, 'My parents reported me to the authorities. They locked me in a reformatory when I was 17.' Reformatories were institutions for young women deemed non-conforming under the Franco regime - those who simply wanted freedom in a repressive society.
Marina and her cousins were stunned by the revelation that their own grandparents had orchestrated Mariona’s confinement. The harsh realities of life under the Franco regime included the brutal treatment of young women who did not adhere to strict societal norms, often resulting in them being blamed for their own victimization.
As a survivor of the Patronato de Protección a la Mujer, a network of residential institutions for women, Mariona's story uncovers the profound impact of a regime that scrutinized and forced girls into submission. The silence around her experience lingered for decades, but it was Marina's documentary, 'Els Buits', that brought their experiences to light.
This narrative resonates today, marking fifty years since Franco's death, as survivors continue to call for acknowledgment and justice for the anguish endured within the walls of the Patronato. As Marina shares her mother's experiences through film, she conveys that these narratives are not isolated incidents but part of a systemic issue, a history that must not be forgotten.
'Women come and tell their stories, and it's like a door opened to something unknown, and that's very powerful,' says Marina, urging society to acknowledge and address the past injustices faced by women during and post-Franco's regime.
