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Antonia San Juan

Actor
Antonia San Juan is a Spanish actress, director and stand-up comedian, best known for her strong-willed and often unconventional roles. She gained international fame for her role as Agrado in Pedro Almodóvar's award-winning film All About My Mother (1999). In her most recent role, she excelled in THE PHANTOM OF THE SAUNA (2023), directed by Luis Navarrete, where she plays the mysterious character Margot. This film, which combines elements of the horror genre with LGBTQ+ themes, has been shown at various international film festivals and earned her positive reviews. San Juan has appeared in numerous Spanish productions throughout her career, including “Piedras” (2002) by Ramón Salazar and “V.O.” (2001), which she also directed. On television, she is best known for her role in the hit series “La que se avecina” (2007-2013), directed by Laura Caballero and Alberto Caballero. Her unique presence and comedic talent were also on display in “Reinas” (2005), written by Manuel Gómez Pereira. San Juan is not only an actress, but also a regular stand-up comedian and performs her own one-woman shows. She has received numerous awards for her acting achievements, including the Fotogramas de Plata for “All About My Mother”. Through her diverse roles and her commitment to LGBTQ+ issues, she has established herself as one of the most distinctive personalities in Spanish cinema.

Films

The Phantom of the Sauna

The Phantom of the Sauna

By Luis Navarrete

2021 | 93 min | Music, Dance, Theater

This LGBTQ musical revolves around Javi, a young sex worker, and his quest for love and happiness.

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Rising Sun Blues

Rising Sun Blues

2022 | 83 min | Documentary

Two women from completely different walks of life meet. A filmmaker and a sex worker begin a creative process together in which they exchange experiences and renegotiate boundaries. As they introduce each other to their techniques, the roles between documentation and staging, between director and protagonist, become blurred. What does it mean to show oneself? And how does the narrative change when you stop just observing and start actively shaping it? RISING SUN BLUES by Renata Ferraz and Maria ...

A Partner to Call My Own

A Partner to Call My Own

2022 | 83 min | Documentary

Eni has danced all her life – with her husband, with friends, with the joy of rhythm. But after the death of her partner, everything changes. Suddenly she is alone on the dance floor, and the gap left by his absence is not only felt physically. To counteract her loneliness, she hires a “taxi dancer” – young men who dance with older women in exchange for money, giving them a sense of closeness and attention for a few hours. But what initially sounds like an arrangement for the dance floor raises deeper ...

Dance Fight Love Die: With Mikis On the Road

Dance Fight Love Die: With Mikis On the Road

2017 | 87 min | Independent

A man in an uninterrupted creative frenzy: composer Mikis Theodorakis is the enfant terrible of contemporary European music history. Here, Asteris Koutoulas ignores biopic conventions to weave archive material with grotesque fiction and the various interpretations of Theodorakis' music. Asteris Koutoulas has accompanied the composer, politician and folk hero Mikis Theodorakis since 1987 on his many journeys. Their personal friendship offers a deep insight into the turbulent life of a person that ...

Faltenrock

Faltenrock

2019 | 82 min | Documentary

What does aging mean in a society where people are living longer and longer? Using a friend’s camera, two young filmmakers follow frequent guests of Hamburg’s FALTENROCK party scene, where entry is restricted to those 60 and older. Christian, Mechthild, Christiane, and Volker fly to China, volunteer to help refugees, search for love, and then disappear onto Facebook for three hours. Coming to terms with one’s own age is always also a confrontation with society’s images of it. The documentary FALTENROCK ...

Peropero: Breakdown in Tokyo

Peropero: Breakdown in Tokyo

2017 | 85 min | Drama

Lászlo and his partner Emma have been together for ten years. She also assists him as producer of the tour documentary. The young Japanese woman Nahoko steps in at short notice as tour manager. In the clubs between Osaka and Tokyo, Lászlo tries to catch up on his childhood dream: a wild musician's life that his own son, of all people, has been living for years. But when Lászlo and the young tour manager Nahoko unexpectedly fall madly in love with each other, not only the filming but also Lászlo's ...

Recycling Medea: Not an Opera Ballet Film

Recycling Medea: Not an Opera Ballet Film

2013 | 75 min | Music, Dance, Theater

While the classical play MEDEA by Euripides is performed on stage, young people on the streets of Athens fight against a state that steals all their opportunities. In associative form, the film interweaves the ancient myth of a mother who kills her children with images of violent street protests and lines from Anne Frank's diary. Six solo dancers - including an extraordinary Maria Kousouni as Medea - in expressive close-ups, in a mixture of classical ballet and modern expressive dance, interwoven ...