End of Waiting Time Confronts Spain’s Facist Past as Families of Victims Continue Search for Loved Ones

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(San Francisco, CA) – In 1936, General Francisco Franco led a coup d' etat against the Spanish Republic that gave rise to a brutal civil war. During his long dictatorship, hundreds of people were arrested, executed or disappeared. Today, family members of those who vanished have begun to look for their relatives' remains and reflect on that dark period and its ongoing effect on their lives. In END OF WAITING TIME, Spanish directors Antonio Perez Molero and Jesus Sanjurjo remove the shroud of secrecy, offering the viewer an opportunity to analyze this chapter of Spain’s history from a human perspective. END OF WAITING TIME will air nationally on PBS WORLD’s Global Voices on Sunday, September 20, at 10pm. 

Focusing on the exhumation at the 16th-century monastery in Uclés used as a political prison in the 1940s, END OF WAITING TIME combines the testimonies of the prisoners and their families who actually lived through the events as well as those of local villagers and archeologists. Local official Maximo Molina leads the exhumation, having been drawn to the events in Uclés after reading archives of the military logs while searching for his grandfather’s remains. He assembles a team of forensic archeologists, student volunteers from the University of Madrid and contractors to convene on the grounds of Uclés in hopes of exhuming over 300 bodies in two mass graves. The local families greet this fact-finding mission with excitement as they eagerly await the opportunity to give uncles, brothers and fathers a proper burial. As the dig begins, many uncertainties began to arise: even the location of the graves is questioned when it is discovered that some remains do not match records of people known to be executed at Uclés. 

Despite this setback, the exhumation continues, and the villagers and victim’s families visit the site, offering their stories of torture and revealing their unique experiences of how their lives and Spanish history was changed by Franco’s brutal dictatorship. END OF WAITING TIME gives an honest voice to the story of Spain taking its first steps in confronting its past, while providing concrete evidence, support and closure for people's memories of what happened in a small country village. 

About Global Voices
Global Voices is produced by ITVS International and began airing on PBS WORLD digital channel on Sunday, April 26, 2009, at 10pm (check local listings). This 26-week series brings an internationally themed documentaries made by U.S.-based and international filmmakers to a national audience. This season, the series will feature the U.S. premieres of seven documentaries funded by ITVS International as well as encore broadcasts of other acclaimed ITVS programs. For more information about Global Voices, visit www.pbs.org/globalvoices. Encore presentations include highly acclaimed films such as THE NEW AMERICANS (2004); 2005 Emmy®Award nominee AFGHANISTAN UNVEILED; the 2007 duPont Award winner, SEOUL TRAIN; winner of the 2002 Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA and the award-winning DEVIL’S MINER. 

About ITVS International 
ITVS International is a division of Independent Television Service that promotes an international exchange of documentary films made by independent producers, bringing international voices to U.S. audiences and American stories to audiences abroad. Through a unique public-private partnership called the Global Perspectives Project, ITVS International administers the International Media Development Fund (IMDF) and True Stories: Life in the USA. The IMDF funds international producers and supports the American broadcast of their programs. True Stories: Life in the USA promotes a series of American independent films to audiences around the world. ITVS created the Global Perspectives Project in 2005 with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the U.S. Department of State. More information about ITVS International is available online at http://www.itvs.org/international. 

About PBS WORLD 
PBS WORLD features documentary, public affairs and news programming from a number of public television’s award-winning signature series and acclaimed independent filmmakers. Produced and distributed by PBS, WGBH Boston and Thirteen/WNET New York, in association with American Public Television and the National Education Telecommunications Association, PBS WORLD launched on 55 stations across the country, representing 24 licensees and reaching more than 27 percent of U.S. households. In most markets, PBS WORLD programming is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Programming on PBS WORLD includes such popular and critically acclaimed series as American Experience, Frontline, History Detectives, Nature, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Nova, Scientific American Frontiers and The Tavis Smiley Show. 

CONTACT 
Mary Lugo 770-623-8190 lugo@negia.net
Cara White 843-881-1480 cara.white@mac.com
Erica Minehan, ITVS 415-356-8383 x 254 erica_minehan@itvs.org