The documentary Don’t Call Me Veal continues to generate reactions, now, once the film has been seen. The general secretary of Sortu, Arkaitz Rodriguez, has considered that the film is “excessively partial” and that “it is exclusively focused on the violence of ETA”, in such a way that it feeds “a certain unique story”. This position contrasts with the criticism expressed by a group of 514 citizens, among whom were people from the world of culture and victims of ETA, who asked the San Sebastián International Film Festival to withdraw the film, believing that it “whitewashes” terrorism. .
This formal request that the film not be screened, channeled through a letter to the management of the San Sebastian festival, stated that “the documentary is part of the process of whitewashing ETA and the tragic terrorist history in our country.” At the same time, he denounced “a justifying and trivializing story that puts murderers and accomplices, victims and resisters on the same level.”
The signatories, however, had not seen the documentary when they signed the letter and their complaint was refuted by the director of Zinemaldia, José Luis Rebordinos. “As long as I direct the Festival, I will never whitewash terrorism and the murders of ETA,” he indicated.
This Tuesday, some victims of terrorism were able to see the documentary in advance (the festival begins on Friday) and expressed a very different opinion than that expressed in the letter requesting its withdrawal, signed by writers such as Fernando Savater, Félix de Azúa, Andrés Trapiello and Fernando Aramburu; or the victims of terrorism Ana Iribar, Mari Mar Blanco, Rubén Múgica, Cristina Cuesta, Ana Velasco and Maite Pagazaurtundua, among others.
Thus, Iñaki García Arrizabalaga, professor at the University of Deusto and son of Juan Manuel García Cordero, kidnapped and murdered by the Anticapitalist Autonomous Commandos, or Josu Elespe, son of the socialist councilor murdered by ETA Froilán Elespe, stressed that the film is far from “whitewash ETA”, and they stressed that it exposes its protagonist Josu Urrutikoetxea.
“Vista Don’t call me Veal. It does not whitewash or justify ETA. The best, Francisco Ruiz. It shows a guy (Ternera) with little intelligence, without ideology, mediocre, one-sided, without empathy, arrogant, a prisoner of his world. If it weren’t for his resume, he would cause shame to others,” said Elespe.
García Arrizabalaga, for his part, also stressed that “he does not whitewash ETA,” while highlighting that Francisco Ruiz “shows infinitely more human dignity” than Urrutikoetxea, whom he considers “emotionally illiterate.”
The reactions of the ETA victims are consistent with the position that Sortu has expressed through Arkaitz Rodríguez, who made it clear, after watching the film, that he did not like it. “It feeds a certain unique story, of good and bad. The opportunity to try to offer a necessarily subjective view, but something more choral and plural, has been lost. Let’s say objective of the conflict that has devastated this country,” he noted.
The director of this Netflix production, Jordi Evole, reacted to Sortu’s position with a comment on social networks. “Until now it has been said that we had whitewashed him. Now Sortu comes out and says that the docu is extremely partial, that he only talks about ETA’s violence and that we cornered the interviewee. Well, let’s not complain. Nobody forced us to go into this garden. We continue.”
