The documentary

The 40th Anniversary of a Festival

This documentary, directed by Pau Subirós and produced by the production company Camille Zonca, gives an overview of the forty-year history of this famous festival by relating some of the most notable events and anecdotes that have occurred over the years. Pride of place is given to the early stages of the festival, a period during which the organisation was in the hands of non-professionals. This amateur nature of the early years gave the festival a "home-grown" character with occurrences and anecdotes which are explained in the film.

Notwithstanding these amateur beginnings, the festival grew in stature, and has become one of the most noted and long-established summer festivals of classical music, bringing internationally famous artists to perform at Torroella. In the documentary we explain this process of consolidation, showing the participation in the festival of internationally recognised musicians, for example the violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin, of whom we show hitherto unpublished footage of his visit to Torroella. The presence of such famous artists gave rise to a number of anecdotes which are included in the documentary.

The film is a combination of interviews, photographs and amateur videos, with material from the archives of TV3 (Catalan Television) and RTVE (Radiotelevisión Española). There are extracts of noted festival concerts and the festival's impact in the media, etc. In addition to the recordings of concerts, there is also coverage of other activities organised as part of the festival, such as the masterclasses given by the tenor Jaume Aragall.

The result is an overview of the history accumulated over the years of a music festival that, thanks to the support of the townspeople, has become a point of reference both at home and abroad.

Credits

Pau Subirós Bosch, director and scriptwriter
Aïda Torrent Ciudad, director of photography
Daniel Lacasa, direct sound
Judith Miralles, editor
Albert Baquero, executive producer
Arlet Rodríguez, producer, documentation
Sergi Esgleas, motion graphics
Xavi Saucedo, sound post-production
Camille Zonca, documentary production company

The documentary lasts for 32:28 minutes. It was filmed during the last weeks of confinement caused by the 2020 pandemic. It is dedicated to the memory of the victims of COVID-19 and to all parts of the cultural sector.

The director

Pau Subirós Bosch has a degree in Anthropology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a Master's in Creative Documentary from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He has worked professionally in the world of audio-visual creation since 2005 as director, scriptwriter, producer and sound technician.
As director and scriptwriter he has created the documentaries Jorge Herralde. Anagrama de un editor (2020. 52 min. A documentary for the "Imprescindibles" programme on TVE), La Clàusula Balcells (2016. Joint production by TVE, TVC, Canal 22 Mexico, Bat a Bat SL and La Maroma), Barcelona Any U (2011. Produced by El Kinògraf for Barcelona Televisió), Barcelona Any Zero (2010. Produced by de El Kinògraf for Barcelona Televisió) and Quan plovien bombes (2008. Produced by El Kinògraf for Televisió de Catalunya). In 2019 he directed the short film El Código Interior (aka: El gran salto adelante) produced by el Kinògraf with the support of the ICAA.
He was also executive producer and scriptwriter for the feature film El viatge de la Marta (Staff Only. 2016/19. Written with Neus Ballús and featuring Sergi López and Elena Andrada) and for La Plaga (2013. Directed by Neus Ballús. Produced by El Kinògraf with joint production with TVC and ARTE France, with the participation of the ICAA and the ICEC). In 2015 Pau Subirós wrote El productor accidental, a narrative essay on the world of cinema production, published by Anagrama in their "Crónicas" collection.