04/07/2014 - Produced by MediaPro, the documentary about the Argentinian star uses the enormous showcase offered by the celebration of the Football World Cup in Brazil

What better than a worldwide event like the Brazil World Cup to screen an ambitious full-length documentary about the biggest star on planet football, Argentinian Leo Messi? That's what the creators of Messi [+see also:
trailer
interview: Álex de la Iglesia
film profile], directed by Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia and produced by MediaPro must have thought. What's more, they were fortunate that Argentina is still among the eight candidates that could sway the most important football competition in the world. 

Screening of the documentary took place in Rio de Janeiro on 2 July last, exploiting the two day break in the competition and the huge presence of sports press in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Naturally, the film attained enormous visibility, expanding beyond the borders of the culture or cinema sections and establishing itself in sports, one of the most popular sections in recent weeks.

Filmed in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Barcelona with a screenplay by former Argentinian footballer Argentina Jorge Valdano, who is also the narrator, Messi mixes reconstructions played by actors, archive material and interviews with former footballers and trainers like César Luis Menotti, Diego Armando Maradona and Johan Cruyff, Argentinian and Spanish journalists, footballers such as Mascherano, Pinto, Iniesta and Piqué, Johann Cruyff, the endocrinologist who treated him for his growth disorder and Barcelona Football Club managers. 

The film's release worldwide will depend largely on Argentina's role in what's left of the World Cup; obviously a potential victory would fast-track it landing on cinema billboards, according to Jaume Roures himself, producer of the film. The film had a budget of three million euro.

(Translated from Spanish)