Sonia Herman Dolz was born in Madrid in 1962, but has been living in The Netherlands since 1965. Her mother was Spanish and her father Czech/Peruvian. In 1993, her first feature length documentary Romance de Valentía, about the art of bullfighting, received several prizes at international film festivals. Lágrimas Negras (1997), about the senior Cuban musical band ‘La Vieja Trova Santiaguera’ touring through Europe, became an international hit. Yo Soy Así (2000) about the senior artists of ‘La Bodega Bohemia’ in Barcelona was internationally acclaimed.
The Master and His Pupil (2003), about conductor Valery Gergiev teaching 3 young conductors the art of transmitting music won the Grand Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the 1st prize at the Golden Prague Festival in Prague, the ‘Golden Statue’ of Arts and Culture in the Netherlands, the Best Documentary Award at the Bergen International Film Festival in Norway, and the AQCC Award at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal. Her film titled Mariken, Vision of an Opera (2018) is about an opera based on the book ‘Mariken van Nieumeghen’ written in 1515. Sonia has been a Jury member at many International film festivals such as: the International Film Festival of Seville (2005), Documenta Madrid (2007), and L’Alternativa Barcelona Independent Film Festival (2008).
Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara
