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Home > Screenings > Autentic Distribution > Counts - The Origins of Catalonia

Director: Carles Porta

Producer: La Xarxa,Antàrtida Produccions

Writer: Carles Porta,Albert Sánchez Pinol

Genres: Documentary

People: Albert Sánchez Pinol, Antàrtida Produccions, Carles Porta, La Xarxa


2 x 52’, 4 x 30’

What was the origin of the Catalan nation? The demand for sovereignty goes back to the 9th century, the beginning of a crucial period in our history, which finally comes to television with Counts. This docu-series tells of the process undertaken by the first Catalan counts to achieve independence from the Carolingian empire. Written by Carles Porta and Albert Sánchez Piñol and directed by Porta, the series reconstructs with strict historical accuracy the reigns of four counts who succeeded one another chronologically: Wilfred the Hairy, Wilfred Borrell, Sunyer I and Borrell II.

With the existing references in mind, this documentary makes the dramatization as historically faithful as possible. The costumes, weapons and sets have been carefully and realistically reproduced and combined with dramatic fiction and testimonies of a wide range of historians.

In Counts, viewers will travel back to a highly politically charged period marked by power struggles. They will discover the personalities and legacies of a dynasty of fascinating characters: the honourable Wilfred the Hairy, founder of the House of Barcelona and the first Count to pass the title to his children without the permission of the Carolingian king; the prudent Wilfred Borrell, who consolidated the sovereignty of the County of Barcelona against Franks and Saracens; the ambitious Sunyer I, a great warrior and strategist, who expanded the counties and created State structures to control the territory; and, finally, Borrell II, who with the vision of a statesman, brought the Catalan counties together, made Barcelona great, and declared independence from the Frankish king.