In a series that started yesterday and ends on October 24th, the Cervantes Institute of Dublin is currently presenting “Ciclo de Cine” (a film series), which focuses on the musical traditions of Spain and South America as represented in their respective cinemas.
On October 15th, La Chana will be screened on the Dublin City University (DCU) campus in the Henry Grattan Building. The documentary focuses on the life of Catalonian dancer Antonia Santiago Amador, who famously disappeared just as Peter Sellers invited her to Hollywood. The film won the top prize at both the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival and the Budapest International Documentary Festival, and offers us a glimpse into the mind of the autodidact dancer as she prepares for her final performance. The film is at once an ode to dance and a hypnotising story that documents the reasons why someone may disappear just as their career is about to hit its peak.
Rumba Tres: De ida y vuelta will show at 6pm on the same day. Joan Capdevila and David Casademunt’s documentary follows the effervescent band as they experience life on the road in Francoist Spain. The film explores the ways in which music can uplift us. Rumba Tres, by virtue of their rhythms, originality and belief in the Roman proverb “Castigat ridendo mores” (laughing corrects morals), manage to revitalise numerous communities as they bring their contagious exuberance to a country beset by repression, inequality and economic depression.
The festival continues on October 17th in Tercentenary Hall in Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, with a screening of Love and Death, which tells the story of composer Enrique Granados and his early successes and lifelong struggles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This screening will be followed by a panel discussion. The event will be chaired by professional singer and Assistant Professor in Hispanic Studies at Trinity, Katerina García, who will discuss the film alongside its director, Arantxa Aguirre, and flamenco dancer and neuroscience researcher at Trinity, Ana Belén López.
The series will conclude a week later on October 24th, with L’home orquestra showing at 6pm in the Auditorium of the Cervantes Institute Dublin. This film centres on piano legend Jesus Moreno Payrot, an important Spanish musician who collaborated with superstars like Frank Sinatra and Edith Piaf. The film is a must-watch for classical music enthusiasts and wraps up the series with one of many examples of the important contributions that Spanish musicians have made to the rest of the world.
