Gonzalo García Pelayo presents pain as part of life in his documentary Alma Quebrada (Broken Soul)

The DOC. España section of the 67th Seminci screened this Saturday 22 October the feature film, Alma Quebrada directed by Gonzalo García Pelayo. This film narrates through a journey through flamenco culture the need to find the healing power of life through an exterior and interior journey of its four protagonists.

Its presentation at the Broadway cinemas was attended by the Seville-based filmmaker Gonzalo García Pelayo, the producer César Martínez Herrada, the scriptwriter Luisa Grajalba and the flamenco singer José de los Camarones. “This is the first time that this film has been reproduced in its natural place, an enclosed space”, explained the director.

Alma Quebrada is a film based on the story of a film director who embarks on a journey to find locations for her next film. An admirer of Resnais and experimental cinema, she tries to create a plot that mixes her own story with that of a singer with whom she had a relationship in the past.

“The film’s greatest asset is Gonzalo García Pelayo. When he called me to make the film, I asked him what it was going to be about, and he told me he didn’t know”, explains César Martínez Herrada, who says that García Pelayo’s cinema creates and incorporates locations until he achieves a unique sense in his plot.

The director shows a complete rebirth of pain and hope carried on the backs of each character. “José de los Camarones teaches the protagonist how not to run away from pain, but to embrace it. Life means going through that pain. If it doesn’t hurt, you don’t live,” García Pelayo said.

Finally, José de los Camarones told the Seminci audience that “it is a film that heals the soul, a balm. I always say that the health system should recommend to all those who fall ill to see this film at least twice”, joked the cantaor.