The collaboration of Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parenno, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, follows French football star Zinédine Zidane in real time during a single match, which took place in 2005.

The film, assembled from shots taken with 17 synchronized cameras inside the stadium, portrays the player from multiple angles, close and distant, always keeping the focus on Zidane's face, even when he is not in the center of the game.

The project was inspired by the pictorial style of Goya and Velázquez as well as the most immediate precursor of real-time cinematographic portraits, Andy Warhol. 

The game is just one of the components of the film, which during the intermission collects the events that occurred on the same day globally: a flood in Serbia, the launch of a video game, the explosion of a car bomb in Iraq and death. by Sir John Mills.

The alternation of the shots, the sound effects and some subtitles, in which Zidane confides some of her thoughts, enliven the film. 

The psychological complexity of the protagonist's portrait pays homage to Zidane as part of a story that is not really told.

Douglas Gordon

Scottish artist Douglas Gordon has always used a variety of mediums, including installation, video and photography, to investigate memory and time. 

For his 24 Hour Psycho (1993), Gordon slowed down a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film to last a full day; amplifying its mesmerizing tension.

In 2006, Gordon collaborated with artist Philippe Parreno on Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, a film that features the movements of French soccer star Zinedine Zidane in real time over the course of a single match to create a complex portrait studio and mediated show. Displayed globally, Gordon's work has been the subject of considerable critical attention and has racked up several international awards.

During the 65th Venice International Film Festival he was chosen as an international juror and in 2012 he was president of the Rome Film Festival. Gordon currently lives and works between Berlin and Glasgow.