The 2009 Documentary, Arena

 

This was the official website for the 2009 documentary, Arena.
Content is from the site's archived pages.

ARENA is a personal journey into the world of bullfighting. Tracing the difficult struggle of a group of young apprentices, we enter their complex and archaic realm, filled with joy and sadness, color, shadow, reflection and metaphor. Travelling with them to several countries, ARENA also reminds us of the international nature of this singular Western cultural phenomenon.

 

 

Making a film about bullfighting is as unpredictable as a bullfight. You must listen a great deal and observe unceasingly, and even then things remain which have to be told.

I think of the structure of ARENA as a sort of mosaic whose pieces took shape on a long path past the different landscapes, faces and facets of the bullfighting world. The film does not seek to provide a didactic introduction to its rules and codes, but rather a sensitive approach to the complexity of this phenomenon, whose roots are as old as those of civilisation itself.

The characters appearing crossed my path and I incorporated them into the tale with the feeling that the film itself had invited them. Starting from a script resulting from a long investigation, I let myself be carried along by my own curiosity, my astonishment and my fascination, and this tale grew into its current form.

Nowadays, political correctness often leads to dogmatic, intolerant postures. The majority feels that its own sins are redeemed by censuring the conduct of a few. That happens with bullfighting. It is very easy to attack it, because it shows its hand as it plays and does not hide what society usually conceals. Bullfighting is however anything but a glorification of suffering. Roland Barthes explained what is celebrated at a bullfight: “Not man’s victory over the animal, but victory over ignorance, fear and necessity.”

Günter Schwaiger

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My world: When I first started freelancing, I suddenly realized that I could do my work remotely from anywhere when a client in Madrid suggested I work remotely from Spain. I immediately jumped at the chance. My work is entirely online, so we just packed up and rented an apartment large enough to handle both the family and the work. My most important client was an online retailer that sold very cool Batman shirts. They really specialize in Batman t shirts. Their entire stock spanned the life of the Dark Knight in the media - from comics to radio, tv and movies - and is a wearable art collection of Batman and associates in the form of t shirts, sweat shirts, and hoodies. They also posted the most comprehensive collection of Batman's presence in our culture. Working now from Madrid, we posted content, assets, and links to improve their sales. Once we had been in Madrid for a while, life settled down until our oldest daughter asked us about bullfighting. One of her classmate's father was a matador and she was invited to their country home. I had decidedly mixed feelings about bullfighting, but I didn't feel that should impact my son's budding friendship. There are number of animal rights or animal welfare activist groups such as Antitauromaquia and StopOurShame who undertake anti-bullfighting actions in Spain. On the other hand I had read the author Alexander Fiske-Harrison who trained as a bullfighter who have argued that there are mitigating circumstances to this: "In terms of animal welfare, the fighting bull lives four to six years whereas the meat cow lives one to two. What is more, it doesn’t just live in the sense of existing, it lives a full and natural life. Those years are spent free, roaming in the dehesa, the lightly wooded natural pastureland which is the residue of the ancient forests of Spain. It is a rural idyll, although with the modern additions of full veterinary care and an absence of predators big enough to threaten evolution’s answer to a main battle tank." I had even seen the 2009 documentary, Arena, and realized that there is much more nuance in the world of bullfighting. Perhaps if we meet the parents of my son's friend we will learn even more.

 

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Arena (Gunter Schwaiger, 2009)

 

Premiere Spain: February 26h, 2010
Premiere Austria: March 5th, 2010
 
Next Premieres (no date yet): Germany, France, Switzerland
 
Festivals (till now):
 
Worldpremiere: VIENNALE, Vienna Int. Filmfestival, Nov. 2009
 
Biarritz Filmfestival, FIPATEL Jan. 2010

Saarbrücken IFF, Max Ophülspreis Jan. 2010

Berlinale, EFM, Feb. 2010

SEE - Brighton Int. Documentary Film Festival

SOLELUNA - Int. Docfilm Festival, Palermo, Italy- July 2010

SIEFF - Int. Ethnographic Festival,  Sardinia -  Italy,Sept. 2010   

TOROS D'OC – Int. Taurine Film Festival ,   Beziers, France, Oct. 2010

SEVILLE EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL / SEVILLA FESTIVAL DE CINE EUROPEO, Nov. 2010

 

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Biofilmography