Archival footage, films, writings, photographs and interviews feed into Ana Pérez de la Fuente and Marta Arribas’s compelling portrait of Echo Chen Ping – who wrote 15 books of semi-autobiographical essays under the pen name Sanmao.

Sanmao spent time in Spain in the 1960s and ’70s, and her literary fame was forged through her stories of life in the Spanish Sahara and the Canary Islands with her husband José María Quero y Ruíz (known as Hexi in her stories). Her life, loves and fictions unravel here like a detective novel, as the filmmakers structure their narrative on a markedly revisionist feminist agenda deftly reclaiming Sanmao’s literary importance – Stories of the Sahara has sold over 15 million copies – while detailing her influences and the complex intersections between her life and work. 

Covering her canonisation in life and dealing with those who have different interests in forging her legacy, Pérez de la Fuente and Arribas craft a film of consummate skill where cross-cultural currents throw up intelligent questions about visibility, socio-cultural (mis)understandings and cultural power.

Sanmao: The Desert Bride is screening as part of Catalan Cinema Now! which runs until 29 May 2022.