Jocelyn Ajami

SF Flamenco interview with filmmaker Jocelyn Ajami, director of Queen of the Gypsies:

Jocelyn Ajami is an award winning filmmaker and fee paid speaker in conjunction with screenings of her videos. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela and speaks five languages. Ajami lives and works in Boston. Her new film "Queen of the Gypsies" a documentary on the legendary Carmen Amaya, has just premiered in Boston and is available for purchase on video.

Jason Engelund: Tell us about yourself and how you came to documentary film.

Jocelyn Ajami: I was a painter for many years and during the Gulf War, I decided that I needed to expand my audience by doing socially conscious work with a broader message. As a painter, I was preaching to the converted with very limited possibilities of bringing other cultures and political issues to a larger audience. My first ten minute piece was a simple informational video called JIHAD. I was the first person in America to treat the topic on video from the Muslim point of view. I had never met any Muslims so this was a great revelation, but I knew through my architectural studies that JIHAD did not mean Holy War. It means “struggle” the struggle to be a better person, the “struggle” to get up in the morning. Its lowest meaning is the right to defend oneself, and only if attacked, thus “just war”. It was obvious through these interviews with Muslim leaders in New England, that Saddam’s war was anti- Islamic. So that is how it all started.

JE: Flamenco has been called an international art form. In our current political context with 9.11 and now Iraq, do you see a connection to flamenco?

JA: Flamenco is evidence that you can not crush the spirit of a people. Through Flamenco, a persecuted and enslaved people, the Gypsies of Spain, preserved their culture and then shared it with the rest of the world. In light of the conflict unleashed in our country with the events of 9/11 Flamenco is proof that art can act as a guardian of the spirit. Passion, “duende” and art can defy any act of terrorism.

JE: Share more of your thoughts about duende and art as defiance.

JE: As I am a painter who works with flamenco, I sometimes feel like a bit of an outsider. I feel that the purest feeling of flamenco happens only when one performs flamenco. What is your experience with making films about flamenco?

JA: I think you do have to become part of the culture one way or another. Even though I only took one year of Flamenco classes, it gave me a conceptual foundation from which to understand the art form and from there I just started to hang out with the artists. Flamenco is indeed a way of life, and it is reflected in the way people talk, walk, play etc. Needless to say, I also took several trips to Spain and met with family members and company members, who knew Carmen. I also studied and continue to study the history, as if it were my own. It helps to fall in love with the art form.

JE: How do you work to transform social consciousness with your films? Beyond strictly documenting, is there a process, or style that you use?

JA: There is no such thing as strict documentation since you are responsible for a selection process which is in itself a point of view. My primary goal is to bring to the public a certain awareness mediated with information and human interest. Then it is my hope that this process will open the door for further revelation or study.

JE: For audiences new to flamenco, how do you work to have them truly feel or understand flamenco?

JA: I think we can never underestimate the power of clarity and simplicity. Flamenco like Jazz is a very complex art and for the uninitiated is important to have the basics, I try to state the basics in an accessible manner without pandering and from there I try to tell a story which the audience can run with, should they wish to.

JE: How did your interest in flamenco start?

JA: Having been born in Venezuela, I knew and liked Flamenco, but I really did not understand musically or historically its profound significance. I had just finished a documentary on Palestinians and Jews, when a friend of mine invited me to a concert in a small church in Cambridge. I really did not want to go, but I went. Omayra Amaya was performing. I sat in the audience, I watched her students perform and they were fine, but I was tired and I wanted to go home. Then Omayra came on stage and started to dance; the power, grit geometry and sensuality of her dance were so powerful, I decided to stay. I was totally captivated and that very same day, I went backstage and said to her. “I am going to make a film about you”. It was 1995, she looked at me like I was crazy, but I started shooting within two weeks and taking Flamenco classes myself. This experience led to the making of GYPSY HEART, finished in 1998. From there I started doing extensive research and following Omayra’s family and her legendary great aunt, Carmen Amaya. It has been a seven year journey to make Queen of the Gypsies.

JE: 7 years in the making! How does it feel to have accomplished this film?

JA: The film was 4 years in the making, but I have been following Flamenco and the Amayas for seven. I feel gratified that I was able to preserve a corner of history, but relieved also, that a heavy weight of responsibility has been lifted from my shoulders. The work has to live without me now.

JE: What is your favorite, or the most peculiar, or most fascinating thing you learned about Carmen Amaya when creating the film "Queen of the Gypsies"?

JA: I was fascinated by the fact that she was multitalented. She was a great singer and actress and God knows what she might have accomplished had she lived beyond her 50 years. I was also astounded by the quality of her character. Her art matched her goodness. Carmen Amaya defined success through the excellence of her art and the integrity of her character.

JE: What's your favorite flamenco movie?

JA: For pure Flamenco, Carlos Saura’s “Flamenco”. For Storytelling, Gypsy culture and Flamenco, Francisco Rovira Beleta’s, “Los Tarantos”.

Tapes of QUEEN OF THE GYPSIES ARE $45.99 INCLUDING SHIPPING,Make checks
payable to JOCELYN AJAMI AND MAIL TO JOCELYN AJAMI, 250 BEACON STREET BOSTON MA 02116, or email at ajami@mindspring.com.

Jason Engelund is a painter, filmmaker and the director of SF Flamenco. Jason works for the Center for Art and Public Life at C.C.A.C