Winner of the Goya Award for Best Documentary, this is an exquisite and surprisingly intimate portrait of the brilliant young guitarist Yerai Cortés, as presented by his fellow musician, Antón Álvarez (aka singer-songwriter C. Tangana). Cortés is a phenomenal talent, but what Álvarez finds most interesting about him is his relationship with his estranged parents, who are interviewed separately and at some length about their marriage. This might seem gratuitous, but in fact the more we learn about them, the better we understand Cortés’s drive and artistry. In this, it doesn’t feel like a typical music doc. It cuts deeper, and has interesting things to say about the gitano subculture (see also, Sleepless City). Álvarez shows his flair with several musical set pieces, which are both flamboyantly staged and integrated into the film’s exploration of Cortés’s psyche.
Before the film, this VIFF Live presentation will feature an hour long flamenco performance from Por Derecho (On Their Own Right) , followed by a short intermission, and then the film screening. A night of passionate flamenco music, song, and dance — just as the audience can experience in Spain — where the artists bring out the raw power of flamenco through their own personal style.
One of the most interesting and carefully made musical documentaries…of recent years.
Ricardo Rosaro, Fotogramas
Dazzling and powerful… A film with soul, which, at times, manages to unite the magic of cinema with that of music, with images to remember.
Julia Olmo, Cineuropa
A pleasant surprise… Few documentaries get to the heart of their subject matter in quite such a distinctive and original way.
Chris Connor, Flickering Myth
Jan 11
7:30 pm
VIFF Centre, VIFF Cinema
Book Tickets
Sunday January 11
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Executive Producer
Cris Trenas, Chavela Utrera
Producer
Cris Trenas, Antón Álvarez, Santos Bacana
Screenwriter
Antón Álvarez
Editor
Marcos Flórez, Critóbal Fernández
Cinematography
Uri Barcelona, Diego Trenas, Arnau Valls, Àlvar Riu, Nauzet Gaspar
Original Music
Antón Álvarez, Yerai Cortés
Also in This Series
This year’s New Spanish Cinema is packed with an exceptionally strong line-up — award-winning cinema, an Opening Gala featuring tapas and wine, and a flamenco-inspired VIFF Live.
The Blue Star
In crisis, a popular singer quits Spain to backpack in Argentina. There he comes under the spell of a veteran musician, who teaches him the art of chacareras, zambas and vidalas. It's a journey of musical kinship and spiritual reawakening.
Forastera
In this mysterious and subtle coming of age drama, teenager Cata is soaking up the sun, smoking furtive cigarettes, and enjoying a summer break with her grandparents and her younger sis in Mallorca. That is, until Cata's beloved abuela collapses...
Afternoons of Solitude
Pacification director Albert Serra turns his unflinching gaze on the subject of bullfighting, and in particular the famous young matador Andrés Roca Rey. The film challenges us to look its subject square in the eye and draw our own conclusions.
The Executioner
Regularly cited as the greatest Spanish film ever made, Berlanga's masterpiece is a pitch black comedy about an undertaker lined up by the state executioner to marry his beautiful daughter -- but he'll also have to inherit the old man's job.
The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés + Por Derecho (On Their Own Right) Live
Winner of the Goya Award for Best Documentary, this is an exquisite and surprisingly intimate portrait of the brilliant young guitarist Yerai Cortés, preceded by an hour of passionate flamenco music, song and dance performed by Por Derecho.
Saturn Return
This fascinating, highly acclaimed movie is a thinly disguised history of 90s indie rockers Los Planetas, a Granada grunge outfit who cited the Velvet Underground as inspiration. It's one of the best rock movies in years.
8
The always stylish, idiosyncratic Basque auteur Julio Medem is back with one of his most ambitious films (and our closing night gala), a sweeping historical romance in eight chapters, spanning eight decades in Spanish history from the 1930s to the present day.