Everyone loves the flamenco. But it's not just the fancy footwork that gives this film some pretty top audience awards at festivals: it's the moving brilliance of its storytelling. This film shares with Chavela an intimate exploration of an exceptional older woman's life, in this case the Catalan goddess known as La Chana. Antonia Santiago Amador lived a tough life of potential success, Hollywood offers, and the persistent undermining of these by a mean-spirited husband. Somehow, as we now all like to say now, she persisted. Flamenco is not just a flurry of hard stomps; it is deeply embedded in culture and the history of a people. The women who dance it are speaking their story, and no one expressed the struggle for identity and freedom better than La Chana. Ultimately, this film is itself evidence of the sheer endurance of personality and talent, testimony of the power of strong will, good bones, and an unwavering moral compass.
There will be a special Curtain Raiser performance by flamenco dancer Christina Penney before the screening, presented by our community partners Neighbourhood Dance Works.