Past events

2012 End of Year Benefit Dinner

Monday, December 10, 2012 at the Spanish Benevolent Society of New York.  239 West 14th St, Second Floor (between 7th and 8th Ave), New York, NY 10011

           

Reception begins at 6:45 PM (includes open wine bar).  Dinner and Program from 7:30 - 9:30 PM. Menu: tapas, paella, and chocolate con churros.

To purchase tickets click here

If you are unable to attend, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to ALBA.  The money raised will help support ALBA's continuing educational work and programs (click here)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

ALBA's annual Online Fundraising Auction 

will be held from November 26 until December 11, 2012. Featuring, among many other items:

• Artwork and photographs including several painting by Dutch Volunteer, Bart Van der Schelling; Photographs by Sofia Moro; Rare, collectible Architects for Social Responsibility poster;

• Rare books and journals pertaining to the Brigades such as a limited edition of Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, 1942; Among Friends from 1938; Book of Drawing from the Spanish Civil War by Rey Vila aka Sim - 1st Edition serigraphs;

• Services for mind, body, and soul.

Bidding is online only. Please visit our online bidding page and place your bids. The online bidding section will run from 12 noon, November 26 until  11:59 PM, December 11.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives

IMPUGNING IMPUNITY: A Human Rights Documentary Film Series

 - FRIDAY,  November 9, 6:00 PM
Syria: The Assads' Twilight / France (2010)
Directors: Vincent De Cointet & Christophe Ayad
Running time: 52 minutes
Discussion with Suzan Boulad, activist and blogger from Mideast Youth; Tareq Samman, member of Building the Syrian State movement; and Professor Fred Lawson, Lynn T. White, Jr. Professor of Government at Mills College. Reception will follow.

A lively documentary history of Syria's Assad regime, tracing its origin and influence, even as it clings to power in the face of the Arab Spring.

 - SATURDAY,  November 10, 4:45 PM
The Mexican Suitcase / Mexico, Spain (2011)
Director: Trisha Ziff
Running time: 90 minutes
Screening includes Q&A with Alex Donado, participant in the film

The story of the recovery of the 4,500 negative taken by photographers Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David Seymour during the Spanish Civil War.  The film follow the journey of these negatives to Mexico - recovered seventy years later.  The Mexican Suitcase brings together three narratives: the suitcase, the exile story, and looks at how people in Spain today address their own past.

 

-SATURDAY,  November 10, 7:00 PM
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator / USA, Guatemala, Spain (2011)
Directors: Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís and Peter Kinoy
Running time: 90 minutes
Question & Answer session will follow the film, led by Naomi Roht-Arriaza, Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

As a young filmmaker in 1982, director Pamela Yates went to Guatemala to make a documentary about a hidden war.  In 2004 lawyers prosecuting an international genocide case asked Yates to comb through that historic film and its outtakes for possible evidence to be used against the same dictator, Ríos Montt, who spoke with her on camera three decades before.  Suddenly the old footage took on a second life.

 

San Fransisco Veterans' Building, Room 223
401 Van Ness Avenue at McAllister Street | San Fransisco, CA | 94102

The festival is co-sponsored by The Puffin Foundation, The Center for Constitutional Rights, San Francisco Veterans for Peace and Icarus Films.  With the support of the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) and Courage to Resist.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

New York - October 1-10, 2012

75th Anniversary of the bombings of Guernica and Durango

 - MONDAY,  October 1, 6:30 p.m.
ROUND TABLE: GERNIKA REVISITED
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center of New York University

- WEDNESDAY, October 3, 6:30 p.m.
INAUGURATION OF THE EXHIBIT: The Bombing of Gernika – The Exhibit - 75th Anniversary of Guernica/Gernika Bombing, 1937-2012.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center of New York University

- October 6-10
SELECTION OF FILMS: THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY
Anthology Film Archives, New York

                                                                    *****  

MONDAY,  October 1, 6:30 p.m.
Round table: GERNIKA REVISITED

With the participation of Joan Ramón Resina (Stanford University), and Joseba Zulaika (Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno). Moderated by Mari Jose Olaziregi (Etxepare Basque Institute-University of the Basque Country.)

The 75th anniversary of the bombing of the city of Gernika provides an appropriate moment for reflection not only on the meaning of this event for the various Iberian nationalitites but also on its meaning as a universal symbol. The two renowned scholars participating in the round table will discuss the bombing and how it has affected the town of Gernika and the Iberian peninsula as a whole.

In English. Reception to follow.

Sponsored by the Instituto Vasco Etxepare, Gobierno Vasco/ Basque Institute Etxepare, Basque Autonomous Government, and the Delegation of the Basque Country in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The Delegation of the Basque Country is a government agency dedicated to empowering and promoting business, cultural and economic relations with the Basque Country.

With the support of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)

KING JUAN CARLOS I OF SPAIN CENTER OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
53 Washington Square South | New York, NY | 10012 | p: 212-998-3650 f: 212-995-4804 | www.nyu.edu/kjc
FREE and OPEN to the public. Picture ID required at door.

---

WEDNESDAY, October 3, 6:30 p.m.
INAUGURATION OF THE EXHIBIT: The Bombing of Gernika – The Exhibit - 75th Anniversary of Guernica/Gernika Bombing, 1937-2012. 

A photo exhibit curated by Instituto Vasco Etxepare and organized in conjunction with the Delegation of the Basque Government in the United States, Mexico and Canada, as part of the 2012 Euskadi, Año de las Culturas por la Paz y la Libertad (Year of Culture, Peace and Freedom.)
The exhibit aims to inform visitors about the tragic events that made the city of Gernika famous. Today, 75 years on, Gernika invites us to reflect on the consequences of the war and to work together for the achievement of peace and freedom. 2012 not only marks the 75th anniversary of the destruction of Gernika; it is also the Year of Cultures for Peace and Freedom. The Basque Government has thus joined forces with the King Juan Carlos Center and the Gernika Peace Museum Foundation to bring this exhibit to the New York public, showing the horrors of war and the necessity of peace.

With remarks by organizers. Special performance by soprano Amaya Arberas.

Reception to follow featuring Txakoli wine.

Sponsored by the Instituto Vasco Etxepare, Gobierno Vasco/ Basque Institute Etxepare, Basque Autonomous Government, and the Delegation of the Basque Country in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The Delegation of the Basque Country is a government agency dedicated to empowering and promoting business, cultural and economic relations with the Basque Country.

With the support of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)

KING JUAN CARLOS I OF SPAIN CENTER OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
53 Washington Square South | New York, NY | 10012 | p: 212-998-3650 f: 212-995-4804 | www.nyu.edu/kjc
FREE and OPEN to the public. Picture ID required at door.

---

New York. October 6-10, 2012

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

SELECTION OF FILMS AT Anthology Film Archives. 32 Second Avenue, New York; (212) 505-5181

PROGRAM SCHEDULE:

 Fernando Arrabal

THE TREE OF GUERNICA / EL ÁRBOL DE GUERNICA

1975, 100 min, 35mm-to-digital video.

In 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, Franco’s army met strong resistance from the Basque people as they moved northward. The people of Guernica, poorly equipped, defiantly opposed the Generalissimo, and he answered the challenge by calling in the Nazi Luftwaffe, which wiped out the town. In this environment of desolation and ruthless violence, a pure and sincere love is born from the flames: Goya and Vandale, two lovers who know the blood, hatred, torture, and agony of death.

With Robert Hessens & Alain Resnais GUERNICA (1950, 13 min, 35mm, b&w)

Set to a text by poet Paul Éluard and details of Picasso’s epic antiwar painting, GUERNICA is an oddly lyrical call for peace.

–Saturday, October 6 at 5:15 and Tuesday, October 9 at 7:30. 

 

Helena Taberna

LA BUENA NUEVA

2008, 104 min, 35mm.

Michael is appointed pastor of a socialist town at the time of the uprising of 1936. The town is soon occupied by the Nationalists, and before long the public executions begin. In his struggle to defend the victims, Michael confronts the ecclesiastical and military hierarchy, putting his own life at risk. The young priest finds refuge in his friendship with a village schoolteacher whose husband has been murdered. Based on a true story, the film reveals how the Catholic Church supported the uprising against the Republic. –Saturday, October 6 at 8:00.

 

Julio Medem

VACAS

1992, 96 min, 35mm.

Over three generations, two families in a small valley of Guipúzcoa maintain tortuous relationships, marked by violence and passion. The story begins in Guipúzcoa, in 1875. During a massacre inspired by an out-of-control family feud, an aizcolari (traditional Basque logger) manages to save his life by smearing himself with blood from a dead body and allowing himself to be stacked with the corpses. The sole witness to his escape is a solitary cow, leading to a strange and lasting obession. –Monday, October 8 at 7:30 and Wednesday, October 10 at 7:00.

 

Jose Antonio Zorrilla

LAUAXETA

1987, 90 min, 35mm.

Urkiaga Stephen, known as Lauaxeta, is a poet and journalist who must assume the role of Basque army commander during the siege of the Basque Country. In the ruins of Guernica, the commander Urkiaga watches the flames destroy not only a village, but also all his personal and intimate aspirations.

–Sunday, October 7 at 6:00.

 

 Jaime Camino

CHILDREN OF RUSSIA / LOS NIÑOS DE RUSIA

2001, 93 min, 35mm.

During the Civil War, thousands of children were evacuated to various countries to remove them from the sorrows of the conflict. Approximately three thousand were welcomed by the Soviet Union, many of them Basques.  Through the testimony of several of these children, now in their seventies, the film chronicles their tumultuous lives. What was originally a temporary evacuation became a long journey, from which many would not return until twenty years later.

–Sunday, October 7 at 8:00 and Wednesday, October 10 at 9:00.

 

Organized and funded by Etxepare Basque Institute, with the collaboration of Filmoteca Vasca, the Ministry of Culture of Spain-ICAA, and Spain Culture New York-Consulate General of Spain, member organization of Spain Arts & Culture.  Additional support by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)

 

Anthology Film Archives

 Directions:

Anthology is at 32 Second Ave. at 2nd St. Subway: F to 2nd Ave; 6 to Bleecker. Tickets: $10 general; $8 Essential Cinema (free for members); $8 for students, seniors, & children (12 & under); $6 AFA members.

_______________________________________________________________________________

2012 ANNUAL CELEBRATIONS HONORING THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE

NEW YORK ANNUAL CELEBRATION & SECOND ALBA/PUFFIN AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Features the presentation of the second ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism to Kate Doyle and

Museum of the City of New York

2:00pm

Freight & Salvage

Berkeley, California     

EVENTS 2011:

December 9

75th Anniversary of the International Brigades - ALBA's Benefit Party. New York 

Incredible live music, silent auction*, Champagne and Spanish wines, dance, and....more!

 To purchase tickets click HERE

*The online bidding section of ALBA's auction will close on 12/9 at noon. It will then continue during the Benefit Party, closing at 9pm

 

Decenber 10

Pasiones: Songs of the Spanish Civil War. Chicago area

FOLKSTAGE on WFMT 98.7, live radio

www.wfmt.com

 

 

 

Photo Exhibit. The Spanish Civil War Photographs of Agustí Centelles (The French Suitcase) New York

Opening night: WEDNESDAY, October 5, 6:15 p.m.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center

53 Washington Square South, New York

October 9

Pasiones: Songs of the Spanish Civil War. Chicago

Featuring Jamie O'Reilly & Michael Smith

www.evantonspace.com

 

 

November 3-5

ALBA's Film Festival.  Impugning Impunity: A human Rights Documentary Film Series.  New York

Museum of the City of New York

1220 Fifth Avenue (enter at 104th Street entrance)

Schedule:

Thursday, November 3:

“Impunity” at 6:30 pm. Screening includes a short film on the work of the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund in Sierra Leone and Liberia - two countries which have endured two of the most brutal civil conflicts in Africa-  and Q&A with Impuninty’s filmmaker Hollman Morris. Reception to follow.

Friday, November 4:

“Prosecutor” at 6pm

“The Mexican Suitcase” at 8pm. Screening includes Q&A with filmmaker Trisha Ziff

Saturday, November 5:

“Nostalgia for the Light” at 6pm

“Granito: How to Nail a Dictator” at 8pm. Screening includes Q&A with filmmaker Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis. 

Tickets: $10 general admission

Tickets can be purchased the day of the event, prior to the film screening, or electronically here (PLEASE PRINT AND BRING A COPY OF YOUR PURCHASE)

The festival is co-sponsored by the Puffin Foundation, the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (UN/PBSO), the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR),the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and Icarus Films.

“Impunity” (2011) Running time: 85 min

Colombia today: the biggest trial against Paramilitary armies - accused of killing thousands of Colombians - is designed to create "peace and justice.”   Instead the process comes to an abrupt halt when the political and economic interests in the paramilitary war are uncovered.

See trailer here

 

“Prosecutor” (2011) Running time: 94 min.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo has one of the toughest jobs in the world. He’s the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world’s first permanent court to try individuals for massive crimes like genocide. To victims of atrocities, he’s a hero. To his critics from the Right and the Left, he’s threatening stability and peace. The world’s most powerful nations, including the United States, refuse to join the Court. A fascinating story with extraordinary behind-the-scenes access, PROSECUTOR follows every move of this flawed yet charismatic champion of human rights as the ICC begins its very first trials. Moreno-Ocampo travels to the world’s most violent countries to investigate and prosecute those accused of brutal crimes against humanity. Not shy of controversy, the prosecutor boldly issues a warrant for the arrest of a sitting head of state. But with no police force of his own, Moreno-Ocampo must rely on nation-states to enforce his law.

See trailer here

“The Mexican Suitcase” (2011) Running time:  90 min.

 

The Mexican Suitcase tells the story of the recovery of 4,500 negatives taken by photographers Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David Seymour during the Spanish Civil War. The film follows the journey of these negatives to Mexico – images as exiles, recovered seventy years later. The Mexican Suitcase brings together three narratives: the suitcase, the exile story, and looks at how people in Spain today address their own past, 30 years after transition. The Mexican Suitcase addresses the power of memory and asks who owns our histories?

See trailer here

“Nostalgia for the Light” (2010) Running time: 90 min.

For his new film master director Patricio Guzmán, famed for his political documentaries, travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe.

The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th century explorers and miners; and the remains of political prisoners, “disappeared” by the Chilean army after the military coup of September, 1973. So while astronomers examine the most distant and oldest galaxies, at the foot of the mountains, women, surviving relatives of the disappeared whose bodies were dumped here, search, even after twenty-five years, for the remains of their loved ones, to reclaim their families’ histories. Melding the celestial quest of the astronomers and the earthly one of the women, NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT is a gorgeous, moving, and deeply personal odyssey.

See trailer here

“Granito: How to Nail a Dictator” (2011) Running time: 90 min.

A story of dark deeds, a quest for justice, and ultimately the power of collective action. As a young filmmaker in 1982, director Pamela Yates went to Guatemala to make a documentary about a hidden war. That film, When the Mountains Tremble, featured a young Maya activist named Rigoberta Menchú who went to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2004 lawyers prosecuting an international genocide case asked Yates to comb through that historic film and its outtakes for possible evidence to be used against the same dictator, Ríos Montt, who spoke to her on camera 3 decades before. Suddenly the old footage took on a second life. 

See trailer here

 

November 30

Symposium on Agustí Centelles. New York

With Sebastiaan Faber, James. D. Fernández, Susie Linfield,  Jordana Medelson, and Juan Salas

King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU

53 Washington Square South

6:00pm

 

The 73rd Volunteers for Liberty Reunion
Brigadistas and Refugees: Crossing Borders With Capa’s Mexican Suitcase
May 3, 2009
French Institute Alliance Francaise
Sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, and the King Juan Carlos Center.

Opening remarks by ALBA Chair Peter Carroll.

ALB Vet Matti Mattson.

Perry Rosenstein, President of the Puffin Foundation, Ltd., on Remembering the Lincoln Brigade.

Angela Giral discussing the refugee experience.

Bruce Barthol and musicians leading the audience in 'Viva La Quince Brigada."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastiaan Faber presenting selections from Capa's "Mexican suitcase."

 

 

 

 

 

ALBA Board Member John Sayles and ALBA Executive Director Jeanne Houck at reception.