The world when that was (El mundo cuando era aquello)

Essay / Video-Art
Duration: 14 min
Spanish Language
English subtitles
Original format: 4K
Projection Format: Blu-Ray, DCP 2K Stereo Color 1: 85: 1
Production: Gonzalo Puch © 2019 Spain

El mundo cuando era aquello – Gonzalo Puch - Teorema Films

Directed by: Gonzalo Puch
Editing: Benito Macias
Sound design: Benito Macías
Postproduction: Benito Macías – Teorema Films
Distribution: Benito Macías

El mundo cuando era aquello – Gonzalo Puch - Teorema Films

Anchored in practices that range from mere curiosity and surprise to gestures that define the subtlety of the minimum. Reflection again and again slides from dream to reality and vice versa. Gestures and heartbeats create a chain that binds the entire film in a performative choreography; in many moments it reminds us of a form of dance due to its turns and movements. The characters are inside and outside the dream, entering and exiting through numerous doors connecting past and present. The plot is not faithful or rigorous to any psychological criteria, it is my intuition that speaks of women, of her ability to give meaning and harmony to the world.

El mundo cuando era aquello – Gonzalo Puch - Teorema Films

Based on practices that go from mere curiosity and surprise to gestures that define the inconsistency of the minimum. Again and again the story slides from dream to reality and vice versa. Gestures and beats create a chain that ties the entire film in a performative choreography; in many moments it reminds us of a dance form due to its turns and movements.

The characters are in and out of the dream, entering and leaving through numerous doors connecting past and present.

The plot is not faithful or rigorous to any psychological criteria, it is my intuition that speaks. Of the feminine, of its ability to give meaning and harmony to the world.

The sound acts as an invisible character that accompanies the protagonists; column of smoke that flutters in the room and that contrasts with the subtle texture of some fingers that draw on the glass or silently strike on the shoulder of one of the protagonists.

Director’s Notes

My work takes place in the space of different dualities: being and world, art and nature, spatiality and temporality.

For years, I have linked a form of symbiosis between photography and moving image, which connects with the theatrical and performative nature of my work. I am interested in the image in all its manifestations. Erase the borders between photography and image, alter their centrality and turn stories into endless stories.

In my career, my preferences gradually covered a broader space, becoming interested in theater and contemporary dance. In the midst of all this, the practice of video, photography and performative actions are my main activity.

This project does not participate in the narration of any story, nor in the idea of beginning and end, here the present is interchangeable with the past and future. A time in the image that unfolds towards an infinity where nothing is concrete as a new beginning makes its appearance.

El mundo cuando era aquello – Gonzalo Puch - Teorema Films
El mundo cuando era aquello – Gonzalo Puch - Teorema Films
El mundo cuando era aquello – Gonzalo Puch - Teorema Films

Director Bio

Gonzalo Puch, Sevilla 1950.

I started late as a painter and had my first solo exhibition at the age of 35 at the La Maquina Española gallery, later the Pepe Cobo gallery. Soon after I left painting to work with photography and installation. My preferences gradually covered a wider space and I became interested in theater and contemporary dance. In the midst of all this, the practice of video, photography and performative actions are my main activity. Soon after I left painting to work with photography and installation. My preferences gradually covered a wider space and I became interested in theater and contemporary dance. In the midst of all this, the practice of video, photography and performative actions are my main activity.

Director’s filmography

2008 Julia. 1´16´´
2011 Next cyclone in the Paradise office. 5´58´´
2012 Pato Rojo-Violín Verde.10´44´´
2013 Arbol talado por el sonido del mar. 11´08´´
2016 Matterhorn. 7´09´´
2017 Woman machine. 6´05´´
2018 Cosas que sucedieron. 9´33´´
2019 El mundo cuando era aquello. 11´59´´
2020 Algún instante futuro pronto o tarde 5´54´´
2021 El día vino solo 20´20´´