Five years ago I had the great fortune of meeting Aquilino ‘El Entri’ Jimenez, one of Spain’s leading exponents of Flamenco and in particular, Flamenco guitar.
He agreed to take me on as a student and has been passing on to me Flamenco traditions and techniques he received directly from legendary figures as Sabicas, Niño Ricardo and Tomatito.
From being a student that would go and see him whenever I was able to get out to Spain, time went passed we became good friends. I had the great honour of getting to know his family and friends in the Gypsy district of Caño Roto in Los Carmenes, Madrid.
Earlier this year El Entri and I decided to attempt to make a film about him and his life. I flew back to Britain and borrowed some equipment and took advice from my friend Graham Forde, an experienced film maker.
I flew back to Spain and we began filming, I attended the sessions at Amor De Dios and El Entri arranged interviews with many of the greats of the Flamenco world. I only had a few days available and we filmed as much as we could. I feel that this is the beginning of an amazing musical, cultural and human story that I want to tell.
I have made this film to attempt to communicate the deep respect and admiration I have for El Entri. He has been a source of inspiration and learning for me and I hope the film can bring some awareness of this man, his work and legacy he has created.
I want to share some of the great fortune I have had in knowing and being close to this great artist and teacher. The film was made with one Panasonic digital camcorder and was filmed over a week in May 2004. I edited and created the film at home on an Apple Mac Powerbook.
For more information please email Rikki here
