Co-Director Santi Aguado and Producer/Flamenco Dancer Ami Otero Minars talk to Fest Track about approach, concept and history in regards to their documentary feature "Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty" playing the International Spectacular section of the 2025 Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
00:00This is Tim Wasberg from Fast Trek on Strict TV.
00:29I'm here in Jeddah for the Red Sea International Film Festival.
00:32But it's about consequence, you know, of both, of actions, of being raised, being taught a film.
00:40Could you both talk about that?
00:41So that's an interesting question.
00:44And I have to say that in the beginning, we had the idea of making a film about Farruquito himself.
00:49But then as we went along, we realized how important the family was and how important the legacy of his grandfather and also his father as well was.
00:58And also how there was a clear parallel between the relationship that he had, Farruquito had with his grandpa Farruko, with the relationship that he has with his own son, who's hopefully going to be an artist as well.
01:13Maybe not as legendary as his great-grandfather and his father, but he's also really talented.
01:20So inevitably, we thought the film was bigger in that sense.
01:25And that it encompassed something more than just a film about a talented artist.
01:31It was about how this beautiful art form is passed on from generation to generation.
01:37And also, in a way, how they deal with the pressure of having, you know, these elders that are as important as they are.
01:46And how they're going to live up to the expectations of their, you know, their family.
01:51When you're dealing with dance, it's a very visual art form, right?
02:12So we knew it wasn't going to be just a talking head documentary.
02:16And we knew we knew we wanted to give them the space to really express themselves because there's certain things that Farruquito and especially flamenco bailaores express better with the dance almost and with their words.
02:29Even though they, as you've seen in the film, they speak very eloquently as well.
02:34So that was something very important.
02:36We also had a clear reference of the film Flamenco by Carlos Saura.
02:41Carlos Saura, as you know, he's a legendary director in Spain.
02:45And Flamenco is almost like a, yeah, it's a staple.
02:50It's a very, very important film in flamenco and also in the history of cinema in Spain.
02:56And we always had that reference in mind because there's a very iconic moment in that film where Farruko, the grandpa, dances with Farruquito.
03:04And at one point he, you know, walks out of the stage and he leaves the spotlight to his grandson.
03:11So we thought that that little scene really encompassed what the film, what our film was about, which is also Farruquito stepping out and leaving the spotlight to his son.
03:22So we always had that idea of doing something in the studio and somehow we didn't want to make an exact replica of that shot in Carlos Saura's film.
03:32But we always had that in mind as a big, big backdrop and almost as a visual like reference for the movie.
03:40So I think that's sort of where we came from in terms of trying to get in that space.
03:46And then, of course, as you mentioned, the archive was very important.
04:03We were lucky enough to deal with a character that has tons of archive and tons of archive that was left out as well.
04:10So that's always just a luxury for any filmmaker to be able to portray your character since he was a little kid until now.
04:20And even Farruquito himself also filmed his son a lot.
04:24So there was also not only from the 70s and 80s, but also from early 2000s when Moreno was a kid.
04:30Farruquito kept filming with his phone and he was a pretty good filmmaker, I have to say, for our benefit.
04:35So I think in that sense, we were very lucky in how we told the story.
04:42For me, I used to be a flamenco dancer.
04:45So I cannot tell director how to shoot, what to shoot.
04:50So all I did was capture Farruquitos from the side stage.
04:56I showed them what kind of signal they were giving to the musician and the singer.
05:03When he did this, that signal means giving that to the musician to slow down or going to the next stage.
05:09So understanding that.
05:10Yeah, so I was telling them, this signal means this, this signal means that.
05:14And so they understood what the communication that Farruquito was doing to the singer and the musician.
05:22The irony, I have to say, is that, you know, I'm Spanish.
05:25Amy, in this case, knew much more about flamenco than I did.
05:28So it was always good to have a producer that can guide you.
05:31Of course, we were talking about expectation, about ambition, also about pressure.
05:51But what kind of pressure the family is putting on the children to become artists as big as they are.
05:59And I guess, ultimately, I tend to prefer films that ask questions more than give answers.
06:07So I think that the film leaves the audience with some big questions in terms of how much was Farruquito and now Moreno willing to embrace that?
06:21Or are they actually, what is really the freedom of choice that we all have, you know, when we're born?
06:27And the truth is that even though I think it's a complex answer, because I think it's both.
06:32I think on one hand, they have to manage the pressure and expectations that is placed upon them.
06:37But at the same time, you can see how this, you know, these kids, Farruquito when he was a kid and also Moreno, now they're fully embracing this.
06:45I mean, they're really, really riding along with it.
06:47And they're absolutely, I mean, I can give you an example of Farruquito was telling me how El Moreno, when he was five years old, he would spend hours watching YouTube videos of flamenco dancing.
06:58Instead of playing, you know, video games, he was just obsessed with dance.
07:02So, because of course, that's also what he's seen, you know, as a kid.
07:05But I think it's interesting in that sense, how there's that tension between, like you said, what's expected from them and their own ambition and their own joy of, you know, of being an artist in flamenco and fulfilling their dreams.
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