The Bilbaos

Pedro Speroni – Author’s Note

When I was 10, everything seemed fine. My maternal grandfather was ambassador to the Vatican, three of my mother’s brothers ran a very important bank, my father was a partner in a law firm. By the end of that year the family decay began though, looking back, maybe everything had fallen apart already, long ago. First my uncles were arrested for committing fraud, one of them ran away. My grandfather left the Holy See. My father had to leave the law firm. What I had shaped as my family identity was no longer there. Family trouble, problems between my parents, my maternal surname printed in all papers next to the word “fraud”.

One day my uncle, fugitive from justice, appeared in my house. It was night. We shared the bedroom for over a month. Until one day he had to flee. A few days later he was arrested again. I remember going to visit him several times at the prison. My mother would take me, we would meet in the visiting room. I remember the search and the various corridors we had to go through to get to where he was. Many of those scenes are forever etched in my memory.

Years later, the chance to re-enter a prison came up. And the feelings I had experienced visiting my uncle, reappeared, but this time they were much more powerful. I started going to prison almost every day. That’s where I met Iván Bilbao, who later on regained his freedom. The bond between me and Ivan Bilbao grew strong and intimate. And almost unwittingly, this documentary film took shape.