This guide, "Historical background," is an extensive tool organized along the script of the film and prepared by the Information Department of the Teresian Association. It offers bibliographic sources, many of which have been sources of inspiration for the filmmakers. It explains some meanings of the film resources used, and responds to issues raised by different people in the discussions held since the film's premiere on March 4 in Spain’s theaters.
At the same time, the purpose of the guide is to promote better understanding of different aspects of the context in places where the history of Spain, especially in the first decades of the twentieth century, is not very well known.
Outline of the guide
- Biography of Saint Pedro Poveda
- Structure of the film
- The cinematographic language of POVEDA
- Questions to generate discussion
Historical background
1. What happened from the morning of July 27, 1936, to dawn the next day?
a. Context. The religious question during the Second Spanish Republic
b. Saint Pedro Poveda’s words
c. You may wonder why Josefa Segovia was not in Madrid at the time of the arrest and death of Pedro Poveda
2. The interrogation
a. Saint Pedro Poveda’s words
b. Which of the characters that appear in the scenes of the “interrogation” are real and which are not?
3. Guadix. Luminous days. The young priest
a. Do you want to know more?
b. Characters in Guadix
c. Meaning of a photograph
• Profiles: Mr. Gonzalo de Figueroa, Marquis of Villamejor, and Fr. Vicente Ayllón
4. What did Pedro Poveda do in the months between his departure from Guadix and his arrival in Covadonga?
5. Covadonga. Green desert. Years of solitude and healing. Beginning of new projects and of the “Good Idea.”
a. What was the education problem in Spain?
b. Characters in Covadonga
c. What does Pedro Poveda write?
d. Do you want to listen to the soundtrack of the film?
e. Pedro Poveda’s words
f. Semiotic Resources
• Profile: Antonia López Arista
6. Jaén. The golden days. Maturity. The Teresian Work takes shape.
a. Josefa Segovia, Directress of the Academy
b. An Academy with its own educational style
c. Call to a new vocation
d. Difficult discernment
e. Spiritual physiognomy
f. Campaign against the Academies
g. “El retablo de Maese Pedro” in El Defensor of Jaén
h. The campaign continues...
i. Diocesan and civil approval of the Teresian Association in Jaén
j. About the people in Jaén
7. Madrid. Chiaroscuro. The Teresian Work consolidates and spreads out.
a. What stands out about Pedro Poveda in Madrid
b. Characteristics of the formation program
c. Beyond borders
d. The Teresian Association before the Holy See
e. Antagonisms
f. Social and political climate between 1931 and 1936
g. Characters in Madrid
• Profiles: Blessed Victoria Díez y Bustos de Molina and Carmen Cuesta del Muro
• Why is the crucifix illuminated with blue and red light?
• Pedro Poveda’s words
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