Canfranc, l'or et le tungstène
by Xavier Pajot
Documentary, 2011, 52′
In the filaments of the lamps, tungsten produces light. In the fine particles between two panes of glass, it produces shade … Transparent in the shade, opaque in the sun. Its melting point is, among metals, the highest. It was sought out to reinforce metal alloys. It increases the penetratative capacity of explosive projectile heads. It has the same density as gold.
Gold and tungsten passed through the dormant train station of Canfranc during World War II.
They wanted to silence the man who shed light on the issue of smuggling and the obscurity remains: how much gold passed through Canfranc between 1939 and 1945? Where did this gold come from? Where was it headed? Canfranc, gold and tungsten is a documentary that lifts the veil of this strange time of trafficking.
Directed by: Xavier Pajot
Cinematography: Madjid Chir
Sound: Cyril Legrain
Editing: Patrick Lauze
Production: Sonia Paramo (France), Ansgar Schaefer (Portugal)
Co-produced by:
Les films figures libres, Znort (France)
Factoria Plural (Spain)
Kintop, RTP2 (Portugal)
Developed with the support of the MEDIA program.
Photograph by: Jonathan Diaz
Xavier Pajot is graduated from ESRA, Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle, and is a member of SCAM. He has been making films since 1984 and owns great experience in capturing images (real and animation) in the most various formats.
Apart from his work on his projects, Xavier Pajot has been working as director of photography in several television documentaries, is co-author of several documentary works and co-authored fiction films. He is also sometimes requested to assist young directors and to ensure the direction of productions or to be part of reading committees and commissions that provide support for writing, development, production, and post-production of audiovisual works.
Synopsis
In the filaments of the lamps, tungsten produces light. In the fine particles between two panes of glass, it produces shade … Transparent in the shade, opaque in the sun. Its melting point is, among metals, the highest. It was sought out to reinforce metal alloys. It increases the penetratative capacity of explosive projectile heads. It has the same density as gold.
Gold and tungsten passed through the dormant train station of Canfranc during World War II.
They wanted to silence the man who shed light on the issue of smuggling and the obscurity remains: how much gold passed through Canfranc between 1939 and 1945? Where did this gold come from? Where was it headed? Canfranc, gold and tungsten is a documentary that lifts the veil of this strange time of trafficking.
Credits
Directed by: Xavier Pajot
Cinematography: Madjid Chir
Sound: Cyril Legrain
Editing: Patrick Lauze
Production: Sonia Paramo (France), Ansgar Schaefer (Portugal)
Co-produced by:
Les films figures libres, Znort (France)
Factoria Plural (Spain)
Kintop, RTP2 (Portugal)
Developed with the support of the MEDIA program.
Photograph by: Jonathan Diaz
Xavier Pajot
Xavier Pajot is graduated from ESRA, Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle, and is a member of SCAM. He has been making films since 1984 and owns great experience in capturing images (real and animation) in the most various formats.
Apart from his work on his projects, Xavier Pajot has been working as director of photography in several television documentaries, is co-author of several documentary works and co-authored fiction films. He is also sometimes requested to assist young directors and to ensure the direction of productions or to be part of reading committees and commissions that provide support for writing, development, production, and post-production of audiovisual works.