SECTIONS // OFFICIAL COMPETITION FEATURE LENGTH

Desde que el mundo es mundo (Since the world was world)

Günter Schwaiger
103' / 2015 / Austria, Spain
Web: www.mosolov-p.com
Spanish
English subtitled

Audience vote 9.59

Gonzalo is a farmer who lives with his family in a little village in Ribera del Duero, in northern Castile. Following the prudent and age-old tradition of producing all the food he consumes, from slaughtering the pig through to his own wine, has served him well in the period of crisis that Spain is going through. Factories closing down, unemployment and the harsh conditions imposed by the food industry are all forcing small villages to fight for their survival.
From time immemorial his yearly cycle has been marked out by sowing and harvesting, by festivals and by local customs; he has always had his fair share of difficulties and problems, but there have been good times and happiness too.
SINCE THE WORLD WAS WORLD is a portrait of the other Spain, the unfamiliar and little-known Spain, but it can also be read as a tribute to simple things, to nature and to the refreshing rebelliousness of wisdom gained through life experience.

Main Festivals & Awards

Estreno Mundial: DocumentaMadrid 15
World Premiere: DocumentaMadrid 15

Director's Biography

Günter Schwaiger was born in Austria and has lived in Spain since the 1990s.
He studied ethnology and theatre at the University of Vienna. After living in Rome and Milan for a few years he came to Spain in the early 1990s to work in film. He has been living in Spain since then and has directed a series of short films and documentaries that have been screened at festivals both here and abroad, winning a number of awards. He has also directed theatre and opera productions. In 2005 he was awarded the Salzburg City Special Arts and Culture Prize for Santa Cruz por ejemplo. In 2007 he won the first “Tiempo de Historia” prize for best documentary at the 52nd edition of SEMINCI, Valladolid International Film Festival, with El Paraíso de Hafner. In 2009 he premièred ARENA, his famous bullfighting documentary, at the Viennale. In August 2011, Schwaiger saw the world première of his musical documentary IBIZA OCCIDENTE at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film was later selected to compete at IDFA Amsterdam. In 2012-13 he produced and directed the acclaimed documentary film LA MALETA DE MARTA on the topic of gender violence, which was nominated for a ROMY award.
Since January 2013 Schwaiger has been working on his new documentary SINCE THE WORLD WAS WORLD and preparing his first fictional full-length feature film.