The TV footage of a crowd of Gibraltarians all in chorus passionately stating ‘We want to be free’ are followed by images of a wedding dress being sewed in London in 2010 as Ana Garcia’s GIBRALTAR, the very first film from Gibraltar to be made and here at the Cambridge Film Festival at its European premiere, begins to set out a journey into the complex history produced by the hate and love between England and Spain on this territory. The documentary seamlessly moves back and forth between the three cultures, between the present and the past, between the different opinions, whether from the political authorities whether from the individuals who witnessed the several upheavals taking place over the decades, in a journey to figure out what to be a Gibraltarian means.

The rich variety of footage which documents the past fifty years in the major events in Gibraltar’s history show a story of war, of rebellion and violence; simultaneously the voices of the living witnesses of such (hi-)story, amongst whom many of the director’s relatives, convey a story of love and unity. Garcia powerfully interlinks the story of her people’s fight to state its identity and strive for unity against all odds with the footage of her wedding’s preparation: macro-history and micro-history are skillfully brought together to highlight the inevitability of the influences and consequences that one exerts on the one other. Garcia’s actual wedding ceremony movingly brings to a close this story of dis- and integration, with the final celebration of the becoming into one family as the vehicle for the future.