Rachel Leah Jones
Israel, Spain, United States | 2011 | 96 min
Languages : English, Spanish
Subtitle : English

David Serva is a well-known Flamenco guitarist – and a Don Juan, as witness five children with five different women. Rachel Leah Jones sets out to follow the trail of her taciturn father, visiting him and his ex-wives. With its gently ironic tone and its impressive spontaneous Flamenco performances, this cinematographic letter tells the story of a complex family history spread between California, Spain and Israel.

The ironic tone is immediately noticeable: when her father breaks his wrist and his pelvis, Rachel Leah Jones comments off camera, “He’s broken the two things he knows how to use.” American musician David Serva needs his wrist for playing Flamenco guitar – a skill for which he has won recognition around the world. And the five children he has had with five different women testify to his use of his pelvis.

The second of those children is Rachel. Now an adult, she visits her father in Madrid, armed with a camera. Serva smokes, drinks, plays the guitar and avoids her questions, whereupon she sets out to visit his ex-wives to discover more about him and encounters five American women who corresponded in their youth to the dream image of a Flamenco-dancing gypsy. Even today, there are tears in the eyes of these strong women when they think about the love of their lives.

Skilfully narrated and studded with photos and home movies, this complicated family story is accompanied by impressive Flamenco performances with Serva in cafés and living rooms. Rachel Leah Jones’ father is addicted to the energy of Flamenco; it is the way he expresses his pain. The same is true of his daughter in this cinematographic letter.

Jenny Billeter

Translation BMP Translations

Trailer

International Feature Film Competition

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