Uruguayan Luis Suárez’s bite of Branislav Ivanovic inspired the tape “9”, the hidden face of football

When on April 22, 2013 the Uruguayan player, then at Liverpool, Luis Suarez bit the Serbian from Chelsea Branislav Ivanovic, in Uruguay a current was unleashed that inspired ‘9 ′, the tape by Martín Barrenechea and Nicolás Branca that competes in the Ibero-American Festival of Huelva and that denounces what is behind some sports stars.

The film shows Cristian, a young player who is projected as a great figure in world football, but lives isolated in a luxurious and lonely environment, besieged by his followers, pressured by the press and sentenced to fulfill commitments established by his father who also acts as representative.

The backroom of sport is captured in a film that, as he explained to Efe Branca, wanted to reflect “a phenomenon that is taking place, such as the media harassment, and through social networks, which I think has transformed the world of sport at all levels, “he said.

“What we saw in this development process is something that we detected at the time: a dehumanization of the footballer, of the athlete in general,” he said, and that in Uruguay supposes “an issue that, in some way, is part of the social phenomenon that you are living in elite sport, almost treating players like Roman gladiators, lowering or raising the thumb without understanding that they are people ”.

Martín Barrenechea, for his part, believes that it is necessary “to look after football, see the problems that exist behind ”, because this sport“ has become a sometimes cruel, ruthless spectacle, in which the players become a product, and we wanted to see what was behind it ”.

And all from the aggression of Luis Suarez to Ivanovic, who in Uruguay “lived in a special way, even with nationalism, even with a somewhat denialist idea, because I had bitten him, but we were convinced that not ”.

In those days people were planted in his house, the press, “giant screens, a paraglider, and from then on we think that on the other side there is a young man who was having a bad time and you had to know what was behind”.

The film competes in the official section of the Ibero-American Festival of Huelva, precisely as the two directors have recalled, the place in Spain where the oldest club in the country was founded, the Recreativo de Huelva, which for the two directors is a lucky coincidence.

Nicolás Branca (Montevideo, 1972), is a director and visual artist, and in 2009 he directed the fiction ‘Amor Robot’, among other works, and as visual artist He has exhibited his photos, videos and installations in various spaces in Latin America and Europe.

For its part, Martin Barrenechea (Montevideo, 1980), is an audiovisual producer and a graduate in Communication from the University of the Republic.

In 2011 he directed the short film ‘Marital status‘, winner of the ORT Super 16mm contest, selected at the 30th Uruguayan Film Festival, and among other works he has been in charge of videos and publicity pieces for local and international brands. (D)