Two Streets and Adela

Distributed by Palomino Productions, PO Box 8565, Berkeley, CA 94707; 510-236-3257Produced by Eve A. MaDirected by Eve A. Ma2010, DVD, color, 30 min. “You can see a person’s whole life just by watching her closely for one day.” So begins Two Streets and Adela, a slice-of-life documentary about flamenco dress designer Adela Olmos, a resident of Jerez de la Frontera. Adela has gone into business for herself. We follow her during the course of one day—from slipping out of bed in the morning to getting back into it at night. Intertwined with close-ups of Adela designing her dresses, sewing, telephoning a client, are shots of the street life visible from her window: workmen chipping paint from a building, a postman delivering mail, a woman recycling bottles. While there is clear affection for Adela the dress designer, the scenes of her going about her daily activities are just not compelling, save for the moment we finally see Adela’s client step into her lovely black and white patterned flamenco gown. The pace is slow and many frames are awkwardly shot. Transitioning between various scenes is less than smooth. Ultimately, we learn very little about Adela, flamenco, the spirit of entrepreneurship, or the city of Jerez de la Frontera. While the guitar score, used intermittently, is quite pretty as an accompaniment to the images, there is not much to recommend in this 30 minute production. English subtitles are available; extras consist of a series of still photos shot during the making of the feature.