Participants:
Aelwen Weatherby, director of the documentary
James Neugass, son of American brigadista James Neugass
and the singer-songwriter Miguel Dantart with "Songs of war"
In the summer of 2012, Jim Neugass set out on a trip to rediscover a father he hardly knew. Seventy-five years earlier, his father James Neugass arrived in Spain as a medical volunteer with the American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy. James traveled everywhere with a black, leather notebook – but died before his memoir of those months in Spain was published, and his original manuscript by him was lost. However, when a copy of the manuscript was discovered in a used bookstore in 2000, his story of him finally found his voice. The documentary “War is Beautiful” explores Jim's journey to rediscover his father and tells a story of the intersection of memory in the Spanish Civil War.
In the summer of 2012, Jim Neugass embarked on a journey to discover the father he knew little about. Seventy-five years earlier, his father, James Neugass, arrived in Spain as a medical volunteer for the American Medical Agency for the Aid of Spanish Democracy. James traveled with a black leather notebook - but he died before the memoirs of those months in Spain were published, and the original manuscript is lost. When a copy of the manuscript was discovered in an antique book store in 2000, his story finally found his own voice. EThis documentary explores Jim's journey in search of his father and tells a story of the intersections of memories of the Spanish Civil War.