Spain, 2016, 83’
director and producer Lucija Stojevic
producer, outreach and audience engagement Deirdre Towers
co-producers Susan Muska, Greta Olafsdottir
associate producer, expert advice and coordination Beatriz del Pozo
associate producer Guri Scotford
production coordinator Sandra Olsina
documentalist and assistant director Lucia Sances
director of photography Samuel Navarrete
editor Domi Parra
sound mix Nicolas Liebing
production company Noon Films S.L. (www.noon-films.com), Barcelona, Spain
in co-production with Bless Bless Productions, Reykjavik, Iceland and New York, USA, RTVE
in collaboration with TV3
with the support of Generalitat de Catalunya – Institut de Cultura, Icelandic Film Center
La Chana is a feature-length documentary film that brings the audience close to the heart and mind of La Chana, the self-taught Gypsy dancer, Antonia Santiago Amador, born in Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona, 1946), star of flamenco in the 1960s and 1970s, shot as she returns to the stage to give a final seated performance after a break of two decades. At the peak of her career, she suddenly disappeared from the scene. Along the way, La Chana reveals the secret behind her disappearance: for eighteen years she was the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her first husband, the gypsy guitarist Miguel da Santander. Her second husband Felix did’nt like her to perform. In this dramatic story about the process and power of creativity, about aging, perseverance and re-invention, la Chana crystallises her life’s contradictions between the talented artist on stage and the woman behind the scenes.
