Falsified Official Trailer from Ashley Tabatabai on Vimeo.

 

For some of you, becoming a parent might be the most wonderful thing that can happen. Looking forward to seeing your son or daughter taking his or her first steps, talking for the first time, dropping him or her off for the first day of school. These are probably one of the few moments; you’re already looking forward to, right after having a baby. Well, for more than 300.000 parents in Spain, who lived between the 1930’s and 1980’s, those moments never became reality. Sadly they were the victims of what it’s known as the ‘Los Niños Robados’ (or ‘The Lost Children of Francoism’; ‘Stolen Baby Scandal’) during which their children were taken away right after birth. This moving story is brought to you on screen by directors Ashley Tabatabai and Stefan Fairlamb in their movie Falsified.

Apart from being director, Tabatabai also takes on the role as producer as well as starring in the movie. It’s about Henry (Mitchell Mullen), who is already looking for over more than 30 years for his long lost son that was taken from him right after birth. When we meet Henry for the first time, he praying in church and talking to his deceased wife, to who Henry promised that he would find their son with everything he has in his power. We see hope in his eyes, because it turns out that he might indeed have found their son, but we also see sadness because of Henry’s illness. Because of his condition and because he doesn’t want to lose any second anymore, Henry decides to meet up with who could be his son. His belief in that even grows more when he sees the gentleman Javier (Ashley Tabatabai), who looks a lot like his precious wife. Despite the fact that Javier denies he’s Henry’s son and being skeptical, he agrees to take a DNA test. A son who doesn’t seem to want to know the person that could be his biological dad and a dad who wants to know if he really found his son. What is it going to be?

When you’ll see Falsified, you’ll not only know the answer to that question but you will also see a very stunning film, especially visually. The dark colors that are being used give a special and secretive vibe to the movie. It perfectly blends with the fact that a biological secret might be discovered during the film. The darkness might also refer to the dark times Henry is going through. The long and nerve-racking search for his son as well as the battle with his own illness, that demands more and more from him. Also, the places that are used, are used for the right reasons. Henry doesn’t only pray and talk in the church to his wife but it’s also the second place where he meets up with Javier. Until now, the reasons for the Los Niños Robados abduction are still unknown. However, according to some people, there might be some religious aspects to it. It’s also great to see that the movie doesn’t focus on Franco his regime that was present during the Los Niños Robados period.

It’s also a very emotional story about loss, anger, sadness but also about hope, love, and family. Mitchell Mullen is cast incredibly well as Henry, an old fragile man whose past weight more on his future than he initially would have thought. Tabatabai, who chose this topic because he was aware of this topic while he was living in Spain, also really owns the screen himself as the long-lost son Javier who deep down maybe wants to give Henry a chance of reconnection.

Falsified is about a desperate man who’s looking for the love of his son that was taken away abruptly and without any reason. Combine this emotional story with a great and meaningful cinematography and a superb cast and you get this great movie. It’s definitely worth giving your time to!

You can read our interview with director, producer and star Tabatabai here

Just Celebrity Magazine Film and Celebrity Reporter Liselotte Vanophem