Freedomfighters

Libertarias (1996) is a Spanish war drama by Vicente Aranda — watch it online on iFILM. It is July 1936, days after the start of the Civil War. A young nun named Maria escapes her destroyed convent and hides in a brothel. The anarchist women's group Mujeres Libres arrives and liberates the place, and Maria ends up leaving with them.

She joins not out of ideology but circumstance. The group — played by Ana Belén, Victoria Abril and Ariadna Gil — heads toward the front, fighting not only the Nationalists but also factions on their own side reluctant to let women near the command structure. The film covers the opening year of the war, following a band of fighters who chose the rifles over every alternative available to them.

Aranda shoots without triumphalism. There is fear, confusion, dark humor, and the specific exhaustion of a war fought on two fronts at once. Watch Libertarias (1996) online on iFILM.