2024 deadCenter Film Festival Best Documentary Feature winner La Singla tells the story of Antonia Singla, a born-deaf Romani from Spain. As a teenager in the 1960s, she was one of the most celebrated flamenco dancers in the world. But as quickly as her stardom rose, Singla – better known as “La Singla” – disappeared from the world stage. She was all but forgotten in the 21st century. That is until the film’s director Paloma Zapata traces La Singla’s humble beginnings, her meteoric rise to success, and attempts to fill in the gaps of her story post-disappearance.
A Forgotten Icon’s Mystery Uncovered by an Admirer
The film’s narrator, Helena Kaittani, is a fellow dancer and writer obsessed with La Singla’s story and whereabouts. Zapata intercuts archival footage of La Singla’s precise yet almost feral performances with Kaittani’s investigation. She pours through old articles and artifacts on La Singla’s career and interviews those who knew her best. The result is a riveting narrative playing out almost like a mystery novel. It simultaneously answers the questions “Who was La Singla?” and “Where did she go?”
As with many stories that deal with fame, the answer to the latter question is filled with much heartache.
The director emphasizes La Singla’s gaze, characterized as haunting by Kaittani and expressive of some deep-seated rage within the young girl. Kaittani compares La Singla’s dancing to a person attempting to exorcise demons, and indeed, we learn that anger fueled much of La Singla’s dancing, especially at an early age, when frustrations over her deafness could only be mollified through flamenco. Of course, the film marvels at La Singla’s ability to dance without the ability to hear, a feat she achieves by feeling the vibrations of the music and counting the rhythm in her head. The film speaks to the power of music. It is an art form that transcends mere auditory trappings.
La Singla Is Expressed Like a Music Video
It is fitting that La Singla is both a celebration of dance and the music that inspires movement. Director Zapata helmed numerous music videos, including for the indie rock band Calexico, a member of which was the focus of her 2016 documentary Casamance: La banda sonora de un viaje. Zapata was also behind the music documentary Peret: My Name Is Rumba (2018). She clearly knows her way around the subject and has a deep love for the world of music. This love shines through in La Singla. The passion the film exudes matches its subject’s raw energy and emotion, making it essential viewing for lovers of music, dance, or general artistry.
