Archive of films Great Match / La gran final

Spain / Germany
2005, 88 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2006

How is it possible that men in the most obscure corners of the Mongolian Steppe, or people living in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, know who Ronaldo is? The answer is to hand in this comedy about remote civilisations where the desire to watch the final match between Germany and Brazil during the 2002 World Cup knows no boundaries…

Synopsis

Easy access to information is a matter of course in today’s world. Any kind of international event can be followed as it unfolds, from the comfort of one’s own armchair. But what about those living in the most remote corners of our planet? Are they truly cut off from all sources of information? It’s not easy for them to get hold of a television or satellite. Yet, even so, these people are informed about everything going on in the world, particularly the exploits of their sporting idols. How do they manage this? By the most incredible methods, which this film aims to uncover as it follows the lives of three groups of men in the Mongolian Steppe, the Nigerian desert and the Amazon rain forest. Three key groups of protagonists from opposite ends of the planet, determined to do anything they can in order to be able to watch the important football match between Germany and Brazil during the 2002 World Cup.

About the director

Gerardo Olivares (b. 1966, Córdoba, Spain) has a passion for travelling which has taken him to the remotest corners of the world. As a director of natural history, cultural and ethnographic documentaries, he has become one of the most renowned Spanish documentary filmmakers. He has been recording for Canal+ and TVE since 1991, and his films are screened by the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. At the end of the 1990s he established Transglobe Films, the first Spanish company oriented towards documentary production. Select filmography: The Third Planet I – II (Tercer planeta I – II), The Last Paradise (Últimos paraísos), Tibet: Freedom in Exile (Tibet: Libertad en el exilio), Hunger in the World Explained to My Son (El hambre en el mundo explicado a mi hijo). His film Caravana (2005), the story of two children and two journeys, was produced by Pedro Almodóvar’s company El Deseo. The film The Great Match is his feature debut.

Contacts

The Match Factory
Domstrasse 60, 50668, Cologne
Germany
Tel: +49 221 539 7090
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.the-match-factory.com

Greenlight Media AG
Gormannstrasse 22, 101 19, Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49 30 726 200-151
Fax: +49 30 726 200-222
E-mail: [email protected]

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Gerardo Olivares
Screenplay:	Chema Rodríguez, Gerardo Olivares
Dir. of Photography:	Gerardo Olivares
Music:	Martín Meissonnier
Editor:	Rori Sáinz de Rozas
Producer:	Sophokles Tasioulis, Andre Sikojev
Production:	Wanda Films
Cast:	Ahmed Alansar, Attibou Aboubacar, Zeinolda Igiza, Shag Humar Khan, Wirapitang Kaapor, Piriháa Kaapor
Contact:	The Match Factory, Greenlight Media AG

Guests

Philipp Hoffmann

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