Project
DOSSIER “Flamenco sin Fronteras” (Flamenco without Borders)
A research on the sense of a living art and about its protagonists in Andalusia
Documentary © Filippo Ciardi, independent director and producer
You can download the dossier in pdf here: Flamenco sin Fronteras dossier 2023 EN
Synopsis
Flamenco sin Fronteras is the documentary that shows more nuances of this special art that is flamenco, where a lot of different artists testify the many ways one could live it and also its and their contradictions, through live performances, personal testimonies and experiences, in constant tension between traditions and contemporaneity. The movie is a journey made of intense meetings with Andalusian, Spanish and foreigner musicians and fans, who reveal themselves in various contexts, from big events like Jerez and Pamplona flamenco festivals, to more intimate places like clubs, bars and homes. These protagonists show through their music and a rich debate that flamenco is a living art without borders.
Directors’s statement
The project goal is to provide a rich and multi-faceted portrait of flamenco nowadays, through the different faces of its protagonists, in its places of origin but also in the different ways of evolution of this art, that the director question about their beliefs, and about their personal and community identity. This first documentary of a still open project shows the richness of the music elements of flamenco, such as singing, dancing, guitar playing, but also its complex subjective, cultural and social core values. The characters testify that flamenco has continued to be over time a living art, popular in Andalusia and, – paraphrasing the various Andalusian cities “de la Frontera” – beyond these so-called geographic and symbolic “frontiers”. In fact flamenco has currently an international success and has also been declared Immaterial Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. But what is really flamenco? What is the value of belonging to its culture of origin, now that it is practiced all over the world? Is it possible to teach and learn flamenco, or in which way is it transmitted? Why it is like a faith and is lived with so much fascination?
Protagonists (complete list here)
Among the protagonists there are artists of great experience, like dance masters José Galván and Juan Parra, the singer José de Los Camarones, the guitarists Paco Cepero and Pepe Habichuela, representatives of family sagas of bailaores like La Farruca and Farruquito, and also three important artists passed to another life during the editing, like Juan Moneo Lara El Torta, Manuel Molina and Fernando de la Morena. They and others confront themselves with younger talented artists like the singer Rocío Marquéz, the dancers Rocío Molina and Leonor Leal and the guitarists Dani Moron and Juan Diego Mateos, with eclectic musicians like the flutist Jorge Pardo and the orchestra director Paco Suárez, and also with non Spanish artists and the dancers “with different abilities” of José Galan’s dance company who integrates also people with disabilities in his shows.
Other informations
Duration of the documentary: 1 h. and 44 min. in 3 parts plus a prologue and an epilogue.
Dialogues in Spanish original language with English, French and soon Italian subtitles.
Format: video is 16:9 full HD 1920×1080 pixels, 25 frames per second progressive, sound is stereo. Encoding format can be ProRes 422 or h264 in .mov or .mp4 file. DCP on request for festivals and cinemas.
Direction, photography, camera, sound, production: Filippo Ciardi. Camera and editing assistant: Stefano Liuzzo. Logo: Elena Clari. Graphic designer: Sharon Neirynck. English subtitles supervisors: Jeffrey Trapp and Alena Nahabedian. French subtitles: Erika Da Natividade.
Trailer
3 minutes trailer link: https://flamencosinfronteras.net/en/trailer-flamenco-sin-fronteras/
Director’s biography
Film director and freelance journalist, with a graduation in economics and enterprise management. Movie projects: “Across the Alps”, feature film made with Giancarlo Bertalero, award as “best Italian documentary” at the 2016 Cinemambiente festival in Turin; short film “Amazónicas” participant in the DocuExprés contest of the festival Alcances 2016 in Cádiz; short film “Lustro de Vino y Alegría” produced by Tabanco Plateros in Jerez; audiovisual series “Io non discrimino” for a project of social cooperatives against labor discrimination; in search of a producer for a documentary about the reconstruction after the earthquake in L’Aquila. As a journalist: reporter for more than 15 years for the weekly magazine Toscana Oggi; videoreportages for the La Stampa newspaper website; reports on wine and brandy from Jerez for the enology magazine Euposia / Italian Wine Journal, and on social issues for monthly magazine Altreconomia. Several years work as communication and fundraising coordinator for different development NGOs.
Support for the distribution and production of a second part
Flamenco sin Fronteras is an evolving project about flamenco and identity. Support is needed for:
1. Distribution of Flamenco sin Fronteras for festivals, theatrical release, tvs and online platforms (the movie can be cut in a 1 hour version and as a 3 parts mini-series).
2. Production of a second documentary about flamenco outside of Spain, on how a living art can evolve beyond the cultural and aesthetic borders of its environment of origin. Rough footage shot in Finland and Estonia.
Contacts
+34 six84120101 (es) / +39 three28 6789849 (it), info[at]flamencosinfronteras.net
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