We're kicking off our online festival with the documentary El Cante Bueno Duele (Good Singing Hurts), the first documentary Flamenco Biënnale ever made. Dedicated to the memory of the legendary guitarist Manuel Moreno Junquera ‘Moraíto Chico’ (1956 – 2011) we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this heartfelt documentary in high res. Ánd we share with you the most intimate scenes that have not made it into the final edit of the documentary.

A journey into the roots of flamenco and the art of living flamenco, through the art and person of legendary guitarist Manuel Moreno Junquera ‘Moraíto Chico’. Together with his uncle Manuel Morao and his son Diego del Morao he forms the heart of the Morao gipsy dynasty that has put an indelible mark on the flamenco style from Jerez de la Frontera, one of the most prominent flamenco breeding grounds. It emerged on the lands around Jerez on the large farms where gipsies worked as day labourers. Like the late María Bala María Soto Monge (1933- 2014), sister ánd inspirator of the great singer Manuel Soto Sordera, one of the last keepers of the old cante jondo. Rocked by the gentle, earthly sounds and silences of Moraíto’s guitar, she demonstrates how the primitive flamenco singing of the past sounded. “To make me sing like this, you have to play like him.” Her words underscore why great cantaores like José Mercé, with whom we see him perform in Córdoba, praise his art.

Moraíto Chico, a master of simplicity and incarnation of the soniquete, the contagious swing from his hometown Jerez, created an unparalleled, inimitable style full of life and grace, a reflection of his great personality and humour that ignited everything and everyone around him. In this documentary, Moraíto Chico ‘Morao’ gives us a glimpse of this life and shows us where the magic of his music lies: in what happens in between the notes, in what reverberates in silence. Forever.

"A veces el dolor es necesario para el alma. Porque el dolor también fortalece."

- Moraíto Chico

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*Sometimes your soul needs to be hurt. Pain makes you strong

CREDITS

Featuring: Manuel Moreno Junquera ‘Moraíto Chico’, Diego del Morao, Manuel Morao, Diego Carrasco, José Merce, María Bala, Jesús Méndez, El Bo, Chícharo and many others.

Martijn Van Beenen & Ernestina Van de Noort director, Martijn Van Beenen camera, Joris van Ballegoien sound, Edon Rizvanolli editor. A coproduction between NTR Television and Flamenco Biënnale. Recorded Jerez de La Frontera, Spain, 2010 | Duration 55