La Singla · Documentary de Paloma Zapata, 2023

La Singla

Music documentary · 2023 · 95 min · Feroz Award for Non-Fiction 2024

«A hypnotic documentary.»
Contraste
«Mystery, suspense and emotion until the very end.»
Contraste
«Restoring the legacy of a forgotten icon.»
DMovies (UK)
«A film that transforms the viewer as they leave the cinema.»
filmAnd
«An excellent suspense thriller that restores a historical oversight.»
filmAnd
Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival Premios Feroz Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Jeonju International Film Festival Krakow Film Festival Festival de Málaga Raindance Film Festival DOXA Documentary Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival DocsBarcelona FICCI
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One. Two. Three. Four. Silence.

When Antonia Singla stepped on stage, she did so without hearing the music. Born deaf into a Romani family on the outskirts of Barcelona, La Singla achieved international fame at 17, captivating audiences with her astonishingly passionate performances.

La Singla moved literally to the beat of her inner rhythm, with a commanding presence matched by her powerful gaze, taking hold of the flamenco world with a dynamism never experienced before. Yet, at the very peak of her fame, she disappeared, and decades later she has been all but forgotten. Half a century on, a young woman sets out to search for Antonia and uncover the roots of La Singla's passion.

Paloma Zapata's hybrid film interweaves past and present, combining archive footage with passionate music and sound. Through a captivating exploration of dance as expression, movement as experiment and performance as rage, La Singla celebrates and preserves the legacy of one of the greatest flamenco dancers of all time.

This Spanish-German co-production premiered in Germany under the tagline "Searching for Sugar Man goes flamenco."

La Singla is a production by La Fábrica Naranja in co-production with the German company Fünferfilm. Selected as the opening film of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2023, it has travelled to more than 40 international festivals and won over 20 awards. It is distributed in more than 15 countries and broadcast on ARTE, NHK, ZDF, YLE, Movistar+ and Canal Sur.

One of the Spanish music documentaries with the greatest international reach of recent years. Available on VOD in Spain and in international distribution.

Awards & nominations

  • Premio Feroz Arrebato de No Fiction, 2024
  • DocsBarcelona · Premio del Público (Panorama Internacional), 2023
  • DocsBarcelona · Mención Especial del Jurado (Panorama Internacional), 2023
  • Moscow International Film Festival · Premio «Keen Eye», Russian Cinema Club Federation, 2023
  • KFF Krakow Film Festival · Mención Especial del Jurado, DocFilmMusic Competition, 2023
  • deadCenter Film Festival, Oklahoma · Mejor Feature film Documentary, 2024
  • DocuRock, Festival de Cine Documentary de Música · Mejor Feature film Documentary, 2023
  • Memorimage, Festival Internacional de Cine de Reus · Mención Especial del Jurado, 2023
  • Memorimage, Festival Internacional de Cine de Reus · Premio Cinema-Rescat, 2023
  • Inclús, Festival Internacional de Cine y Discapacidad de Barcelona · Mejor Documentary, 2023
  • OJO LOCO Festival de Cinéma Ibérique et Latino Américain, Grenoble · Premio del Público, 2024
  • BNP Paribas Two Riverside Film and Art Festival · Premio del Público, 2023
  • DocsValència · Premio España, DocsLab Spain, 2020
  • Abycine Albacete International Film Festival · Premio Abycine Lanza WIP, 2021
  • Abycine Albacete International Film Festival · Premio Abycine Lanza MAFF, 2021
  • Sunny Side of the Doc · Premio de Selección DOK.fest Munich, 2022
  • Nominación · Premios Carmen, Mejor Película de No Fiction, 2024
  • Nominación · Premios Carmen, Mejor Actriz (Helena Kaittani), 2024
  • Nominación · ASECAN Awards, Mejor Película de No Fiction, 2024
  • Nominación · Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Premio del Público, 2023

Festivales y selecciones

  • Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival · Película inaugural, 2023
  • Festival Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián · Made in Spain, 2023
  • Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival · Artscapes, 2023
  • IDFA Amsterdam · Docs For Sale, 2023
  • Festival Internacional de Cine de Moscú · Documentary Film Competition, 2023
  • FICG Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara · Selección Oficial, 2023
  • Festival de Málaga · Sección Oficial documentaries, 2023
  • Raindance Film Festival · Documentary Competition, 2023
  • Festival de Cine Europeo de Sevilla · Panorama Andaluz, 2023
  • DOXA Documentary Film Festival · Selección oficial, 2023
  • Jeonju International Film Festival · World Cinema, 2024
  • Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias FICCI · Selección oficial, 2023
  • In-Edit Barcelona · Panorama Nacional, 2023
  • DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival · Competición Oficial, 2024
  • FICPBA Festival Internacional de Cine de Buenos Aires · Competición Oficial, 2023
  • Sofia DocuMental International Film Festival · Competición Oficial, 2023
  • CinemaSpagna, Festival del Cine Español y Latinoamericano de Roma · Competición Oficial, 2023
  • Festival du Cinéma Espagnol de Nantes · Compétition officielle, 2024
  • BIDF Budapest International Documentary Festival · Selección Oficial, 2024
  • deadCenter Film Festival, Oklahoma · Competición Oficial, 2024
  • One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Praga · Selección Oficial, 2024
  • DocsValència · Selección oficial, 2023
  • Rocky Mountains Women's Film Festival · Selección oficial, 2023
  • Festival Internacional de Cine por Mujeres · Selección oficial, 2023
  • REC Festival Internacional de Cinema de Tarragona, 2023
  • Amsterdam Spanish Film Festival, 2023
  • Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona, 2023
  • CinemaAttic, Catalan Film Festival (Reino Unido), 2024
  • Hamptons Doc Fest, 2023
  • Womex, Worldwide Music Expo, 2023
  • Flamenco Biënnale Nederland, 2023
  • MOLDOX International Documentary Film Festival for Social Change, 2023
  • Chania Film Festival, Grecia, 2023
  • CineHorizontes · Festival du Film Espagnol de Marseille, 2024
  • FEMCINE Chile, 2024
  • ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival, 2024

Laboratorios y mercados

  • Circle Women Doc Accelerator · Serbia, Croacia, Italia, 2022
  • Ventana Sur · Spanish Screenings on Tour, Argentina, 2022
  • San Sebastián International Film Festival · Foro de Coproducción Lau Haizetara, 2021
  • DocsBarcelona · Public Pitch, 2020
  • D'A Film Festival Barcelona · Film Lab WIP, 2022
  • Sunny Side of the Doc · Global Pitch (Women Voices), Francia, 2022
  • DOK.fest Munich · DOK.forum Marketplace, Alemania, 2022
  • Festival de Málaga · Work in Progress (MAFF), 2022
  • Abycine Albacete · Abycine Lanza WIP / MAFIZ Impulse Award, 2021
  • SANFIC Santiago Lab, Chile, 2021
  • Roy W. Dean Grant, From the Heart Production, EE. UU., 2021
  • MEDIMED, The Euro-Mediterranean Documentary Market, 2020
  • DocsValència · DocsLab, 2020
  • Fundación SGAE · Programa de Mentoría «Creación y Mercado», 2019
  • International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg · MMP Meeting Place, Alemania, 2019
  • Sitges International Film Festival · Producers Meet Producers, 2019

Equipo

  • Screenplay, direction & editing: Paloma Zapata
  • Production: Paloma Zapata (La Fábrica Naranja), Paola Sainz de Baranda (Malandar Films), Nadja Smith, Gregor Streiber, Friedemann Hottenbacher (Inselfilm Produktion)
  • Cinematography: Dani Mauri, Iñaki Gorraiz
  • Diseño de sonido: Hannes Schulze
  • Postproducción de sonido: Matthias Schwab
  • Sonido directo: Nora Haddad, Enrique Bermejo
  • Music: Juliane Heinemann
  • Art direction: María Díaz Cantero, Jordi Canora Raúl
  • Animaciones: Susan Kreher
  • Cast: Antonia Singla (La Singla), Helena Kaittani, Adelfa Calvo, María Alfonsa Rosso
Imágenes

Fotogramas

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Behind the scenes

Making of

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Colita, Helena Kaittani y Paloma Zapata en el rodaje de La Singla
Colita, Helena Kaittani y Paloma Zapata
Música

Soundtrack

Música original de Juliane Heinemann

With the support of

ICAA · Ministerio de Cultura ICEC · Generalitat de Catalunya Creative Europe MEDIA CCMA · Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals ARTE ZDF Movistar+ Canal Sur Institut Ramon Llull Fundación Aura Seguros DocsBarcelona 26 Abycine Lanza Ajuntament de Santa Coloma de Gramenet

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