The Competition

Provocative and disturbing, “The Competition” brings the TV camera into previously inaccessible territory: behind the scenes of an architectural competition. The first documentary of its kind, the film reveals -with insistent, cruel attention to detail- the backstage action of the final phase of the competition for the National Museum of the Principality of Andorra, in the Pyrenees. Five of the world’s most powerful archistars, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid and Dominique Perrault confronted each other, using every possible strategy. Following the brutal competition in the three months before the verdict, the film documents salient moments, such as Foster’s withdrawal, due to a change in the regulations (which made the production of the documentary possible), the professional performance of the various teams, forced into insane rhythms and interminable workdays, and the presentation of the four finalists’ projects before the jury. The film became an event for great media attention, an occasion for the members of the commission and several politicians to be immortalized with the undisputed giants of international design. The decisive day ends leaving a great question unanswered: will the jury really have the last word in choosing the winner?