Joaquín Sabina – 19 días y 500 noches

The film is of course about Joaquín Sabina, a legendary singer-songwriter in the Spanish-speaking world. Sabina was already a singer-songwriter long before this name became fashionable. His texts nestle in your memory like poetry and are inextricably tied up with his music, his performance, his whole personality.
Film maker and connoisseur of Spanish culture Ramón Gieling chose for an indirect approach to filming the phenomenon of Sabina. He takes his time before letting Sabina speak. First he shows his famous house in detail, looking like a small museum; a house for which all his friends have a key. And he talks to friends, fans and lovers and takes the viewer along to the concerts with their mood and atmosphere. Only then does the master himself speak out, making it clear what it means to meet this phenomenon in person.
Gieling is not only interested in the person Sabina. He is also interested in the language, the poetry and the culture of which Sabina’s songs form part. When Gieling first saw Sabina perform, he was surprised that whole masses of people had no problem reciting his occasionally difficult, very poetic lyrics off by heart. He realised that he was in a country and a culture where poetry is still important. The power of the film is that it communicates this original feeling; it will certainly provide new firms for the music of Sabina. (GjZ)

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