21/09/2024 - The artist known as C. Tangana talks about his motivations and influences as a first-time director

(© Pablo Gómez/SSIFF)

Antón Álvarez, known musically as C. Tangana, presents his first film as a director, La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés [+see also:
film review
interview: Antón Álvarez
film profile], in the New Directors section of the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival. He tells us about the motivations and influences behind it, which revolves around the Alicante flamenco guitarist Yerai Cortés and a family secret that has to be told.

Cineuropa: You come from the world of music; the film tells the story of a musician... What prompted you to make it and to debut as a film director?
Antón Álvarez: Since founding Little Spain the dream of directing my own films became a bit more realistic. Over the course of learning to write them I came across all this. I felt something very special when I met Yerai and especially when he told me some of the personal stories that inspire his music. Somehow he chose me because he already knew that he wanted to tell all this.

Why were you interested in this family's story? What did you want to tell through it?
In general, the film explains how we can make beautiful things out of tragedy. It is very Spanish and very flamenco. Yerai literally tells his life with the guitar and this brutal honesty struck me. I thought I wanted to make a film about love. I don't know if it's romantic, but it's about love. A mother's love, a woman's love, a brother's love.

You tell a complicated story... How did you approach the intimacy of this family?
Difficult and wonderful. There were moments of doubt because everyone in it has been very exposed, but the result is that we are all in San Sebastian celebrating, so I am very happy.

Have you tried to remain as faithful as possible to the real story you are telling? Or are there also fictional elements?
I think the narrative is not that of a documentary. It’s not a biopic, it’s nothing like a report, it’s not an informative film, it is an emotional film like any fiction film. The things that are told are not invented. Like I say, for me it's a film about love. The only set pieces are some of the musical moments, the rest is just as it happened.

You introduce and appear as an interviewer in several of the conversations in the film. Did you know that you wanted to be in it?
I was afraid of not showing my face and making it look like what I'm telling is “the truth” or something like that. Throughout the whole process I felt a little embarrassed about getting so deep into a friend's life and felt more comfortable making it clear that you influence everything you look at.

Beyond the theme, music is very present in the film as a kind of narrator. How do you relate to or want to use this form of expression in film?
Well, we could talk about music for hours. We’ve filmed flamenco in a very special way. The whole film is a kind of response to Carlos Saura's Flamenco, Flamenco [+see also:
trailer
film profile], one of my favourite films. We recorded with the idea of respecting the live performance and the moment. We left in all those little mistakes that make things unique. Let's say we tried to do the opposite of a music video. I think the cinema experience is something very immersive and special; people have to go and listen to it in the cinema, especially those who haven’t been to a flamenco party, it's a very nice approach. 

In your next audiovisual projects, are you interested in continuing to tell stories about musicians or where music is the protagonist? Or would you also like to make other kinds of films?
I want to do fiction; I want to write screenplays [smiles].

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)