Tales of The Mexican Suitcase

2 minute read
One of three boxes Box of Robert Capa, Chim (David Seymour) and Gerda Taro negatives of the Spanish Civil War recovered by the ICP in December 2007. The negatives had been missing since 1939.Robert Capa © International Center of Photography

For years there persisted a rumor that a suitcase, lost in the chaos of World War II, containing the negatives of photojournalists Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David “Chim” Seymour taken during the Spanish Civil War had survived. Decades later, the wayward suitcase was discovered in Mexico City, among the belongings of the Mexican ambassador to Vichy France and finally returned to Cornell Capa, the younger brother of Robert Capa and the founder of the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Now a documentary about the find, The Mexican Suitcase by director Trisha Ziff, expands on ICP’s recent exhibition on the negatives. The film showcases the photos and the photojournalists’ work during Spain’s civil war– a battle between communist and fascist that began in 1936 with a failed coup, and killed half a million people before General Franco won control in 1939– and the continuing struggle to come to terms with the country’s painful history.

Ziff weaves in personal, often painful accounts of biographies of those who had survived the war by fleeing Spain, many unable to forget even to this day. An exiled woman tenderly holds up an old, worn out fork while describing the hunger she experienced as a child. Another man recalls his teenage years spent eating and sleeping beside his gun. Along with those interviews are ones with a new generation of Spaniards who were only babies when Franco finally stepped down in the early ’70s. Only now are they seeking to connect with a past that has been unknown to them. Ziff says, “I was impacted by how even today 70 years after the war how the haunting memories of repression, dictatorship impact life in contemporary Spain. How this exile still defines the identity of young people—three generations later, and what 30 years of fascism has meant for the Spanish people.”

Within these diverging narratives, through various interviews with experts in the industry, the film pays tribute to the spirit of three extraordinary photographers Capa, Tara and Seymour who passionately believed that photographs could change and shape the way we see the world.

The Mexican Suitcase is screening for a limited time in New York City at the IFC Center from August 26, 2011 -September 1, 2011 and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle 5 from September 2, 2011 – September 8, 2011.

One of three boxes Box of Robert Capa, Chim (David Seymour) and Gerda Taro negatives of the Spanish Civil War recovered by the ICP in December 2007. The negatives had been missing since 1939.Robert Capa © International Center of Photography
Gerda Taro, Paris, 1935Fred Stein © Fred Stein Estate—Courtesy of International Center of Photography
Woman breast feeds a boy at a land reform meeting near Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain, Late April-early May 1936Chim (David Seymour) © David Seymour Estate/Magnum Photos/Courtesy of International Center of Photography
A young woman writes a letter at the refugee center in Montjuich, Barcelona, November 1936Chim (David Seymour) © David Seymour Estate/Magnum Photos/Courtesy of International Center of Photography
Wounded Republican soldiers, Battle of Teruel, Spain, December 1937Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos
Refugees flee during the Battle of Teruel, Spain, December 1937Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos
Republican soldiers, Segovia Front, Spain, late May-early June 1937 Gerda Taro © International Center of Photography
Man carrying wounded boy, Battle of Teruel, Spain, December 1937Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos
Refugees leave during the Battle of Teruel, Spain, December 1937Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos
Spanish Republican being led down the beach to a French internment camp, Le Barcarés, France, March 1939Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos

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