Spain. Summer 1936. The famous writer Miguel de Unamuno decides to publicly support the military coup which promises to bring order to the tumultuous situation in the country. He is immediately removed from office as dean of Salamanca University by the Republican government. Meanwhile, General Franco succeeds in appending his troops to the rebellious front and launches a successful campaign in the secret hope of gaining sole command of the war. The bloody continuation of the conflict and the imprisonment of some of his colleagues leads Unamuno to question his initial stance and to reconsider his principles. When Franco moves his headquarters to Salamanca and is named Head of State of the nationalist zone, Unamuno heads to his palace, determined to beg him for clemency.
Alejandro Amenábar (Santiago, Chile. 1972) debuted in feature films with Tesis (1996), winner of seven Goya awards, including Best Film. His second film, Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes, 1997) was released internationally and had an American remake, Vanilla Sky (2001). The Others (2001), starring Nicole Kidman, was his first film in English. Selected for the Venice Festival, it enjoyed widespread international success. Mar adentro (The Sea Inside, 2004) won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award and 14 Goya awards, as well as another 60 awards worldwide. In 2009 he released Agora, selected by the Cannes Festival, and in 2015 opened the San Sebastian Festival’s Official Selection, out of competition, with Regression.