23/09/2025

Two Audiovisual Communication alumni premiere “Solo Javier”, a documentary about the life of Javier Sartorius

Joan Girbau and Albert Escuder, Faculty of Communication Sciences alumni, are members of the team behind “Solo Javier”, a film that hit cinemas on 12 September and tells the story of a young tennis prodigy from Madrid, Javier Sartorius, who gave up his career to pursue a spiritual life.

Joan Girbau studied Audiovisual Communication at UIC Barcelona from 2009 to 2013 and, in addition to co-directing this film, is also the director of photography. Albert Escuder produced the documentary with the production company Adauge, which he founded after graduating with a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University in 2014.

A preview of the documentary was screened in Madrid and Barcelona in September, to sold-out crowds. In the words of the former students, “the documentary is more than just a simple biography. It transmits the spiritual experience of sacrifice and detachment in favour of joyous, silent and contemplative love.”

The film’s director, Josepmaria Anglès, stresses the desire to “tug at viewers’ consciences” through this spiritual journey. “When we heard the story, we knew it was unique: inspiring, countercultural and surprisingly unknown,” he explains.

Solo Javier UIC

Synopsis
Javier Sartorius Milans del Bosch was born into an upper-class family in Madrid. Young, handsome and charismatic, ahead of him lay a promising career as a tennis player. Yet despite his success in the United States, he began to feel a profound existential void. Grasping for answers, he left everything and struck out on a path of no return to discover the reason for his existence.

A dreadful existential void led Javier Sartorius to begin serving as a missionary in Cuzco (Peru), where he devoted himself body and soul to the spiritual journey. His need to find God in poverty, silence and prayer took him first to the seminary in Toledo and later to the Community of Lord, in Catalonia’s Pyrenean foothills. Sartorius died suddenly from a heart attack just before becoming ordained a priest.

“Rather than focus on Javier's holiness, what we wanted to show was the beauty of a faith that shuns comfort and breaks new ground. The film is a journey: from glamorous mundane fame to the chapel of a sanctuary tucked away in the mountains and the impact of Peru’s poverty, and touches on the need for a spiritual life in the first world,” explain the film's creators.

We at UIC Barcelona encourage our students to pursue personal and transformative projects like this one by Jaume and Albert. Their film is currently playing at Mooby Gran Sarrià for anyone interested in attending.