Synopsis

Poet and singer, Joaquin Sabina has ruled as an idol among the 200 million Spanish-speaking people for the past 20 years. All presidents of South American countries wanted to take pictures with him, and his fans included Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Fidel Castro, Pedro Almodovar, and Diego Maradona. Sabina stood up against Franco and fled to the U.K. in 1968, and from 1975 had to sing his songs for money at a small bar in London. One day, he happened to sing for George Harrison of the Beatles, who just dropped by with his friends and tipped him 5 pounds, which Sabina cherishes to this day. When Franco’s dictatorship finally ended, he returned to Spain and released his first album in 1978. Since then, he has worked his way up to become Spain’s leading singer with 18 albums released up to 2007. He is a great fan of bullfighting and a generous man who would give his house keys to friends and let them stay as long as they wanted. His salon was always the center of Spanish culture. However, since he was seized by cerebral hemorrhage in 2001, he has been living in seclusion, and his place has been forgotten. The director, Ramón Gieling, reconstructs in a studio Sabina’s place, just as it used to be and highlights Sabina’s life through interviews with friends who used to frequent Sabina’s salon. The original title ‘19 Days and 500 Nights’ is the title of Sabina’s album released in 1999. (Chun Jin-su)

Director

• 
  • Ramón Gieling
  • Ramón Gieling is a famous Dutch film director who has made many documentaries, feature films, shorts, and experimental films since 1975. Many of his works were made in Spain, where he lived for a period. His works have won many awards both in the Netherlands and internationally, and have been shown at various international film festivals.