Pedro M, 1981

When historical archives hide an intimate family secret

Pedro M, 1981 is a 27-minute Swiss-Spanish short documentary that fuses personal memory with a pivotal moment in modern Spanish history, selected at ten international festivals including Visions du Réel and nominated for the Swiss Film Award 2016 in the Best Short Film category.

What Pedro M, 1981 is about

Set in Madrid, the film follows a woman searching for the father she never knew: Pedro Martín, a cameraman for Spanish television who made his name filming the failed coup attempt in the Spanish parliament on 23 February 1981. As she meets people haunted by images of the past, the investigation turns inward, revealing how historical archives can conceal an intimate drama. Directed by Andreas Fontana, the film blends documentary material with fiction, making it a distinctive entry in the short documentary form.

Director: Andreas Fontana

Andreas Fontana was born in Geneva in 1982 and studied comparative literature at the University of Geneva before training as a filmmaker in Buenos Aires. Pedro M, 1981 was produced by his company Terrain Vague in co-production with the Spanish outfit Laissez-faire, and received its world premiere at Visions du Réel 2015 in Nyon. The film was nominated for the Swiss Film Award 2016 in the Best Short Film category.

Cast of Pedro M, 1981

The film stars Marina Saura alongside Rafa Alberola Rubio and Javier Merino Merchán. It is a family and suspense documentary spoken in Spanish with English and French subtitles.

Awards and festivals

The film had its world premiere in the International Competition at Visions du Réel 2015 and went on to screen at nine further festivals across Europe and Latin America, including the Festival dei Popoli, Festival L'Alternativa, Zinebi Bilbao, and the Etats généraux du film documentaire in Lussas. It received a nomination for the Swiss Film Award 2016 in the Best Short Film category. See the full festival run in the awards block below.

Related documentaries to explore

If you enjoy intimate family documentaries and history documentaries, you may also like At the Feet of My Mother, Roger, My Brother, and Snajka: Diary of Expectations, all available on GuideDoc.

Where to watch Pedro M, 1981 online

Pedro M, 1981 is available to stream on GuideDoc, a curated global documentary platform. You can watch it on any internet-connected device, including browser, iOS, Android, Apple TV, and Google TV, with a single monthly subscription.