The solely police officer who managed to infiltrate ETA turns into a personality in two movies | Culture | EUROtoday

In 1998, the terrorist group ETA declared a truce. The then Minister of the Interior, Jaime Mayor Oreja, baptized it as a “truce-trap,” and he knew it for a truth, as a result of within the Donosti command, In the epicenter of San Sebastián, a police pressure, often called Aranzazu Berradre, had infiltrated, who was the one who handed on the details about the rearmament of ETA and who managed to dismantle that group. command. His story has been the topic of quite a few journalistic studies and now two movies will narrate, in a kind of fictional manner relying on every undertaking, his work as a mole inside ETA for eight years.

Last Friday the filming of The infiltrator, directed by Arantxa Echevarría, after seven weeks of filming within the capital of Gipuzkoa. A ghost in battle, a title not but last, will start filming on April 15 directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, who has devoted years to this script that’s a lot farther from actuality; will probably be a Netflix unique produced by Juan Antonio Bayona, Sandra Hermida and Belén Atienza, the trio behind The Snow Society.

Elena Tejada, a Riojan agent of the National Police, turned Aranzazu Berradre on the age of twenty-two. “There has never been another police officer, man or woman, who managed to join ETA. The security forces tried to get more people in and only she succeeded,” says María Luisa Gutiérrez, one of many producers of The infiltrator She realized concerning the story from a pal, “who works in the National Police and who knew people who had been involved in the operation.” For virtually eight years, Berradre, who even spoke Basque, rose by means of the ranks of ETA: she was a part of a bunch of puppeteers and labored in a nightclub, then she joined anti-system actions and even entered the city bar from Herri Batasuna within the Old a part of town, to lastly enter Jarrai. “The curious thing is that it was ETA who contacted her and recruited her. She had known how to move and attract the attention of the band,” explains Mercedes Gamero, one other of the producers. After being contacted by Kepa Etxebarria, Berradre ended up being a collaborator of the Donosti command, whom he gave shelter in his San Sebastian residence on Urbieta Street. Then Sergio Polo would arrive, named head of the commandan ETA member with a bloody resume who’s presently serving a sentence for, amongst different crimes, the homicide of Army commander Luciano Cortizo in 1995.

On March 10, 1999, Berradre herself took Polo and Etxebarria by automotive to a gathering during which they have been arrested. Both needed to flee after the arrest, the day earlier than in Paris, of José Javier Arizkuren, Cantauri, on which they depended. A 12 months later, his existence, his actual title and his {photograph} have been revealed by the journal Black Sheep She had already been taken out of the Basque Country by her superior, a commissioner who had strengthened her safety and totally bugged the residence the place she lived. Her path fades by means of the Spanish embassies during which she has subsequently labored.

“She knows that we are with the film, although we never contacted her,” Gutiérrez explains. “Aranzazu is built through the vision of colleagues, but not their own words, in the script by Arantxa and Amelia Mora and with the contributions of Carolina Yuste.” Because it’s this actress who stars The infiltrator Yuste is an everyday in Echevarría's cinema – due to Carmen and Lola gained the Goya for greatest supporting actress—; and alongside her have been Luis Tosar because the commissioner, Pepe Ocio, Nausicaa Bonnín and Víctor Clavijo as fellow cops, and Diego Anido as Sergio Pablo.

The infiltrator It was filmed fully in San Sebastián, together with an illustration on Pescadería Street, re-established as in 1997, and the homicide of Gregorio Ordóñez—then a member of the Basque Parliament and deputy mayor of the San Sebastián City Council—was recreated with the approval of the household of the PP politician, in the identical place the place it occurred: the La Cepa restaurant. In that metropolis, the primary poster for the movie might be seen, unveiled in September through the San Sebastián competition, and at the moment the opposite model additionally started to be heard, solely impressed by the story of Elena Tejada and far more fictional, which On April 15, Agustín Díaz Yanes begins filming.

The script, which for a time was titled sanctuary and now, with a provisional title, it’s baptized as A ghost in battle, It is a script that Díaz Yanes has been engaged on for a very long time. In her case, the protagonist is a civil guard who comes from the south of Spain and will probably be performed by Susana Abaitua, curiously a pal of Yuste (they’re even carried by the identical consultant); a personality that merges experiences of varied brokers of the State safety forces and our bodies.

The relationship between Díaz Yanes and Bayona will give extra cinematographic play as a result of the previous has been the adapter of In blood and fireplace, the gathering of tales by Manuel Chaves Nogales that might be Bayona's subsequent movie. For three weeks the groups The infiltrator y A ghost in battle They haven’t crossed paths. But the coincidence of themes in Spanish cinema is unusual: often, when there are two comparable scripts, one in every of them finally ends up not being filmed.

On the opposite hand, in Hollywood it occurs and is noticed with a sure normality, as exemplified in 1989 Partners and hounds y Okay-9 Super Agent; Antz (Concrete) y Bugs, a miniature journey, each from 1998; Armageddon y Deep Impact, additionally from 1998; Objetive the white home y Assault to energy, of 2013; harmful friendships y Valmont, in 1989; Without obligation y With the best to the touch, from 2011; Volcano y A city referred to as Dante's Peak, of 1997; Robin Hood y Robin Hood: prince of thieves, from 1991; The last trick y The ilusionist, 2006; Red planet y Mission to Mars, 2000; The Truman Show y edtv, launched one 12 months aside (1998 and 1999); Snow White (Mirror, Mirror) y Snowwhite and the legend of the hunter, 2012; Capote e story of a criminal offense (additionally one 12 months aside, 2005 and 2006), or Tombstone: The Legend of Wyatt Earp y Wyatt Earp, 1993. To select some examples. Even in France there have been two biopics by Yves Saint Laurent in 2014.

Mariano Barroso, director of content material (cinema) at Netflix in Spain and Portugal, feedback by e mail: “Agustín Díaz Yanes is an essential director in the history of recent Spanish cinema, with a unique vision of the social and political context that the film tells. . Netflix is ​​proud to make a decisive commitment to this production, backed by a team of producers whose creative vision has led to The Snow Society to become a global phenomenon among the public and critics.”

María Luisa Gutiérrez says that she has already moved a primary therapy of her undertaking “on different platforms and televisions since 2018.” And she emphasizes: ”Our story goals to get very near actuality and we imagine that we have now achieved it, since individuals [como el comisario al que da vida Luis Tosar, con el que pudo entrevistarse] who was concerned within the operations has learn the scripts and has not squeaked. I feel they’re two totally different movies.”

With a price range of six million euros, Gutiérrez hopes to launch it within the fall, through the sturdy season of Spanish movie festivals. Is it simple to provide a movie about ETA? “We have not had any problems, it has been easy because we are very honest: our point of view is that of the infiltrated police,” says Gamero. And how did that agent handle to embody one other individual for eight years? Gutiérrez responds: “Beyond his brutal psychological strength, there are people who still believe in public service.”

_