# Soldiers of Salamina (film)

Soldiers of Salamina (Spanish: Soldados de Salamina) is a 2003 Spanish drama film written, directed and edited by David Trueba, based on the novel Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas. It stars Ariadna Gil and Ramón Fontserè alongside Joan Dalmau, María Botto and Diego Luna. The film was nominated for eight Goya Awards in 2004, and won the award for Best Cinematography. It was selected as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

## Plot

Lola, a novelist who has abandoned her writing career, tracks down the details of a true story from the last days of the Spanish Civil War. The writer and Falangist honcho Rafael Sánchez Mazas faced a firing squad along with fifty other prisoners, but managed to escape into the woods. A Republican soldier, apparently one of those searching the area for the escaped prisoner, found him but allowed him to escape. The novelist pieces together the fragments of the story, plagued by contradictions and mysterious characters, and comes to realize that her search for the truth is a personal quest of self-discovery.

## Cast

* Ariadna Gil as Lola Cercas
* Ramon Fontserè [es] as Rafael Sánchez Mazas
* Joan Dalmau [es] as Miralles
* María Botto as Conchi
* Diego Luna as Gastón Elquiza
* Alberto Ferreiro [es] as Joven miliciano
* Luis Cuenca as Padre de Lola
* Lluís X. Villanueva [es] as Miquel Aguirre
* Julio Manrique [es] as Pere Figueras
* Ivan Massagué as Quim Figueras (20 años)
* Bruno Bergonzini as Daniel Angelats (20 años)
* Joaquín Notario as Capitán Collell
* Merche Mar [ca] as Luz
* Eric Caravaca as Camarero Dijon
* Vahina Giocante as Assistante Social Dijon

## Production

An adaptation of the 2001 novel Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas, the screenplay was penned by Trueba. In the transfer from novel to film, the character of Javier Cercas becomes Lola Cercas (changing the gender of the lead character) and Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño is replaced by Gastón Elquiza, a Mexican university student with a family background of exiles of the Spanish civil war. The film is a Lolafilms and Fernando Trueba PC production. Shooting locations included Girona, Catalonia.

## Release

Distributed by Lolafilms, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 21 March 2003. It was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 56th Cannes Film Festival in May 2003.

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Film | Best Film | Nominated |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Director | David Trueba | Nominated |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | David Trueba | Nominated |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Actress | Ariadna Gil | Nominated |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actress | María Botto | Nominated |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Joan Dalmau | Nominated |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Cinematography | Javier Aguirresarobe | Won |
| 2004 | 18th Goya Awards | Best Special Effects | Pedro Moreno, Alfonso Nieto, Emilio Ruiz del Río | Nominated |
| 2004 | 13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actress in a Secondary Role | María Botto | Nominated |
| 2004 | 13th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role | Joan Dalmau | Nominated |