film
La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés
Moving portrait of virtuoso flamenco guitarist Yerai Cortés, who carries a secret family tragedy. This driving directorial debut of Spanish rapper C. Tangana won two Goyas.
Yerai Cortés, known for his devilish, playful rhythm, is a rising star on the Spanish flamenco scene. However, his virtuosity hides a family tragedy that he only shares with the world through flamenco. The popular Spanish rapper Antón Álvarez, better known as C. Tangana’s, makes his directorial debut with this rousing portrait of the flamenco guitarist and the Roma culture he is from. Cortés reveals how family trauma seeps into his work, powering his creativity. He wants to heal his family’s open wounds with his guitar.
The documentary that was born from ‘overwhelming sorrow’ according to C. Tangana, also follows the young guitar maestro’s attempts to balance tradition and innovation. C. Tangana’s film is movingly intimate, shot on 16 mm with a healthy dose of self-deprecation on the guitarist’s part.
Introduction in Slachtstraat Utrecht
Introduction by Carlos van Tongeren: The emotional story of a young flamenco icon.
Flamenco guitarist and researcher Carlos van Tongeren discusses the making of the film "La Guitarra Flamenca de Yerai Cortés," which explores the protagonist's family history. The film reveals a deeply personal side of Yerai Cortés, a guitarist who, thanks in part to his collaboration with musician and director C. Tangana, has become a true cult icon in Spain.
Carlos van Tongeren is a researcher at the University of Granada and a flamenco guitarist. He previously held positions as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Spanish Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester and as Assistant Professor of Hispanistic Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen. He is the author of "Rhythm and Heritage in Modern Flamenco Guitar" (Cambridge University Press, 2025) and has published several other works on the connections between flamenco and the memory of the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975). His first solo album as a flamenco guitarist, Moradas, was released in 2023.
