Just saw the movie "Pau: la força d'un silenci"... Have you seen it?I had no idea it was based on a true story!
Yes! I saw it when it aired on TV some years ago. It is a real story! Pau Casals was a fascinating man.
For those who don't know, this is a Catalan telefilm about Pau Casals. He was a cellist, in fact he is considered one of the best musicians of the 20th century and one of the best cello players in all history. He was a defender of the rights of Catalan people, antifascism and pacifism. When the fascists won the Spanish Civil War, a general said he was going to cut off his arms, so he had to go on exile. He helped the other exiles and refugees and stopped playing the cello as a protest against Franco's dictatorship and European fascism, and was also closely watched by the Nazis.
He's probably the most famous Catalan person of the last centuries (the only other coming anywhere near him being the architect Antoni Gaudí). He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and the UN awarded him with the Peace Medal.
If you visit Catalonia, you can visit his home in El Vendrell. It's a beautiful house in front of the sea where you can learn more about him. It's run by the Foundation Pau Casals that he created and which does a lot of work to give opportunities to young cello players, share the passions for classical music with the general public, and to promote peace and human rights around the world.
