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Por el Flamenco
- Directed & Produced by: Shem Shemy
- Written by: Shem Shemy & Tom Barkay
- Sponsored by: Yes-Docu, Israel, Action Media productions
- Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Synopsis
The journey of a loving Israeli couple into the depths of the flamenco scene in Granada, Spain, becomes the personal journey of one man to the roots of his own sadness. His accidental encounter with Yoel - an Israeli flamenco guitarist living in Andalucia, sparks the beginning of the shared journey into the heart of gypsy flamenco culture. His exploration of flamenco culture turns into an obsession, leaving behind his loved-one together with his previous life. The journey leads to encounters with fascinating characters of folk flamenco while at the same time taking us through an emotional odyssey in search of personal identity. A chronicle of love in the heart of Andalucia's world of flamenco - A film about passion and loss.
Images
Awards
- Best Documentary Award - Boomtown Int'l Film & Music Festival, Texas, 2011
Festivals
- Caja Grnada de Memoria Anadluz, Spain, 2011
- 1st International Israeli Film Festival, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, 2011
- Marbella International Film, Spain, 2011
- Pärnu International Film Festival, Estonia 2011
- New York International Film Festival 2011
- Boomtown Film & Music International Film Festival, USA, 2011
- Cape Winelands International Film Festival, South Africa, 2011
- Madrid International Flamenco Short Film Festival, Spain, 2010
- Festival Internacional de Cine en Cartagena, Colombia, 2010
- Broadway cinematheque MOMA, Beijing, China, 2010
- India Int'l Women Film Festival, Special Showcase for Ruth Diskin Films, December 2009
- Boston Latino Int'l Film Festival, USA, 2009
- GZ Doc Int'l Film Festival, Guangzhou, China, 2009
- Doc Boat Int'l Film Festival, Poland, 2009
Educational
- Library of Congress
- Arizona State University
- Maryland University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Harvard University
Press and Links
Por el Flamenco at the Quad Cinema, May 1st 2011
When foreigners talk about flamenco, it's usually from the point of view of "doing" it how to sing with more air; how to dance correctly but still incorporate personal style; how to find the best teacher to study with. But in his documentary film Por el Flamenco, which will have one showing this Sunday, May 1, at the Quad Cinema, Israeli flamenco aficionado Shem Shemi shares a completely unique flamenco experience: how to deal with the pain flamenco arouses deep in the soul.
For the entire review by Judith Gelman Mayer, check: http://home.earthlink.net/~bc77/flamcalendar/review2.html
While living in Spain, Shem Shemy, an Israeli philosophy teacher, discovered, through Gypsy flamenco—an art form born of suffering—a path to a pain he had not previously acknowledged. His father, a war hero, had been shot in the head during Israel’s War of Attrition with Egypt (1967-1970). Flamenco recordings that director Shemy made during a road trip through Andalusia, and his insight into his family’s plight, comprise this remarkable documentary.
J.G.M/ Hadassah Magazine, Hadassah.org
My Pain is as My Father’s – a look at the film POR EL FLAMENCO
Dr. Einav Libros, TheMarker Café, March 1, 2011
http://cafe.themarker.com/post/2057510/
“Now that it is all behind me…” that’s how filmmaker Shem Shemi opens his film POR EL FLAMENCO. It is an honest and brave monologue that continues throughout the film in which the narrator turns to his father in order to include him in the experience of the Flamenco – and which allowed him for the first time “to stand directly in front of the pain”. …
This is a film about a journey – one that begins in nature and continues to travel throughout Andalusia; in its streets and alley ways. But it is a journey that also comes full circle: towards the end of the film Shem is seen climbing up that same hill as if from the past to the present. It is a return to his emotions – emotions that were bound to be released. Through his expression of pain –and just as he was able to help out a wounded dog, Shem is able to find a way to express love in his new found relationship.
At the end of the film, the director is able to end his journey with his mind settled. The camera shows Shem seated besides his new love – and while not exposing the Flamenco dancer’s face, we see the beauty of the dance. And the beauty of Shem’s wife’s face – and we see that the journey is still ahead.
This is a unique poetic film. And even though I am not familiar with all of the secrets of the Flamenco, I found myself attracted to the portraits, the human faces which you so beautiful portray.
At first the Spanish voice-over seemed foreign to me, but it later merged with the totality of the film which is so non-Israeli, in the best sense of the word – and which emphasizes the esthetic and the lyrical.
Shmulik Duvdevani, Film Critic
