SECTIONS // OVERVIEW OF THE SPANISH DOCUMENTARY

La maleta de Marta

Günter Schwaiger
86' / 2013 / Spain, Austria
Web: http://www.mosolov-p.com/spanish/la-maleta-de-marta.html
Spanish/German
Spanish subtitled

Years before Marta suffered the savage attack of her ex-husband and was close to dying from it. Her assailant has now come out of jail and she is certain that he shall try to kill her once more. At the home where she hides she shows us her daily struggle to overcome the trauma and fear. Harald, pshycotherapist from the men’s call-in “MännerWelten” helps violent men to end the sexist violence and find its possible causes. The testimony of one of these men takes us into the depths of his violence… Marta's Suitcase describes with real examples both the suffering and the struggle of the battered woman, and the point of view of those who work against violence. The film has been shot in Spain and Austria, the two sites where the director lives, as an example of the worldwide dimension of this issue.

Main Festivals & Awards

Human Rights Film Festival Barcelona/París/Nueva York
Frauen Filmtage Wien - International Women Film Festival (Vienna)
Frauen Filmtage Klagenfurt - Women Film Festival

Director's Biography

Günter Schwaiger was born in Neumarkt-Salzburg, Austria. He studied ethnology and drama at the Viena University. Afterwards he went to live in Rome and Milan for some years, coming into Spain in the early 1990s to work in the film industry. Since then he has director a series of short films and documentaries that have been selected for festivals both national and international, where they have been awarded various prizes. In 2005 he wins the Special Arts and Culture Award in Salzburg for Santa Cruz, for example. In 2007 he receives the “Tiempo de Historia” First Prize to the Best Documentary at the 52nd SEMINCI, Festival de Valladolid, for the film El Paraíso de Hafner. In 2009 he premieres Arena, his documentary about tauromachy at the Viennale, the international festival in Viena. The premiere was surrounded by controversy because international groups against bullfighting tried to stop the screening of the film. In August 2011, Schwaiger successfully stages the world premier of his new documentary film Ibiza occidente at the Montreal World Film Festival. In 2012/2013 he produces and directs the new documentary film La maleta de Marta and starts to work on his first fiction feature film.

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