RTVE reveals 'The secret files of NO-DO'

Absolute Minority, a production company specialized in historical documentaries with archival images, joins RTVE to produce the new documentary series 'The Secret Archives of NO-DO', a format based on exhaustive research into more than 6,000 film cans "never opened and hidden for decades."

In the warehouses of the Spanish Film Archive there are more than 6,000 cans with movies that NO-DO, the Francoist newscast, filmed and that did not see the light of day. RTVE has had access to those files to explore what all these files contain cans that were closed without their content reaching Spanish cinemas and that will be discovered in the new documentary series The secret files of the NO-DO.

The series brings together unpublished images together with fragments already projected at the time in movie theaters in Spain. All this, accompanied by the expert reasoning that can give an explanation of the reason for this ostracism. Through six episodes, this documentary series co-produced by Absolute Minority wants to bring to light in an entertaining and relaxed way the secrets of NO-DO, while at the same time has helped restore all this film material that remained forgotten.

Of the more than 6,000 cans found in the Spanish Film Archive, they have opened and preserved 400, in a production that has kept a team of five people working for almost a year. Thanks to the digitization and conservation of each of the cans, the Spanish Film Archive has a fund for public use renewed and preserved for posterity.

He Cine Doré of Spanish Film Archive hosted the presentation and screening of the first chapter of the series, followed by a round table in which participants Virginia Bazan, director of the RTVE Archive; Marian del Egido, director of the Conservation and Restoration Center of the National Film Archive; Manel Lucas, screenwriter and historical advisor of Absolute Minority, and the historians Ana Velasco and Juan López Córcoles.

Joseph Pastor, director of Film and Fiction at RTVE, led the event and pointed out that the project “perfectly meets the public service criteria that this television must have.” Virginia Bazan agreed with this idea by highlighting that “this production is a clear example of the importance of taking care of our audiovisual heritage.” Marian del Egido He thanked RTVE for its collaboration in the work of “restoring and digitizing a lot of material that will reach people through television, through their homes.” Manel Lucas delved into the casual and friendly tone of this project. "From the first moment we thought that we wanted to give it this tone of entertainment, without losing rigor. It was a trial and error, we saw that it worked and it suited RTVE," he stated. And finally, Ana Velasco He highlighted that "we live in a world that depends directly on the past and this program is a way to get closer to yesterday and today", while for Juan López Córcoles, the project allows "to know reality through side B, of what was not wanted to be told."