Cuba is roughly 1,300 miles away, but in a rehearsal space in downtown Manhattan, it doesn’t feel all that far. Cradling their percussion instruments, horns, and guitars, a ten-piece band of musicians, some from Latin America, preparing to play a sinuous piece of son Cubano, as a theater crew — director, writer, actors and choreographers — hover around.
“Nothing like this has been attempted before,” says music supervisor Dean Sharenow. “It’s important that this is the real thing, not a Broadway musical production.”
Welcome to the next iteration of the enduring...
“Nothing like this has been attempted before,” says music supervisor Dean Sharenow. “It’s important that this is the real thing, not a Broadway musical production.”
Welcome to the next iteration of the enduring...
- 11/20/2023
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
WestEnd Films and Cinephil are teaming up for a feature documentary on the late Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora.
Directed by Portuguese filmmaker Ana Sofia Fonseca, the film — simply titled “Cesária Évora” — is described as a multifaceted portrait of the singer, who “leveraged her international fame to empower her community” on the African island of São Vicente, which is part of the Cape Verde archipelago. The film will have its world premiere at SXSW, with WestEnd and Cinephil repping worldwide rights.
The two companies recently partnered on “Afghanistan,” which was announced during the 2021 American Film Market.
Grammy winner Évora, who died at the age of 70 in 2011, rose to international fame in the mid ‘90s with her melancholic morna ballads thanks to the tireless work of her manager José da Silva, who took her from a Lisbon club to world stages like the Hollywood Bowl. Never before-seen footage unearthed by director...
Directed by Portuguese filmmaker Ana Sofia Fonseca, the film — simply titled “Cesária Évora” — is described as a multifaceted portrait of the singer, who “leveraged her international fame to empower her community” on the African island of São Vicente, which is part of the Cape Verde archipelago. The film will have its world premiere at SXSW, with WestEnd and Cinephil repping worldwide rights.
The two companies recently partnered on “Afghanistan,” which was announced during the 2021 American Film Market.
Grammy winner Évora, who died at the age of 70 in 2011, rose to international fame in the mid ‘90s with her melancholic morna ballads thanks to the tireless work of her manager José da Silva, who took her from a Lisbon club to world stages like the Hollywood Bowl. Never before-seen footage unearthed by director...
- 2/28/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Most people know Matt Dillon as an actor who grew up in front of the cameras. He won two Indie Spirit Awards for “Drugstore Cowboy” and for “Crash;” that one also yielded a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Dillon also made a strong directing debut in 2003 with moody thriller “City of Ghosts” co-starring James Caan, Gerard Depardieu, and Stellan Skarsgård.
None of that addressed an all-consuming passion for world music with a vast collection of vinyl and shellac 78s (sorted alphabetically by artist or label), and making a documentary about Cuban scat singer Francisco Fellove that took him 20 years to complete. “The Great Fellove” debuted to rave reviews at San Sebastian 2020, and more recently, Telluride 2021.
in the film, Cuban rumba performer Chan Campos describes Fellove: “He was a drum from his feet to his head.” (See our clip below.) Dillon’s documentary captures the scat maestro who gave us the original “Mango Mangue,...
None of that addressed an all-consuming passion for world music with a vast collection of vinyl and shellac 78s (sorted alphabetically by artist or label), and making a documentary about Cuban scat singer Francisco Fellove that took him 20 years to complete. “The Great Fellove” debuted to rave reviews at San Sebastian 2020, and more recently, Telluride 2021.
in the film, Cuban rumba performer Chan Campos describes Fellove: “He was a drum from his feet to his head.” (See our clip below.) Dillon’s documentary captures the scat maestro who gave us the original “Mango Mangue,...
- 9/17/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Most people know Matt Dillon as an actor who grew up in front of the cameras. He won two Indie Spirit Awards for “Drugstore Cowboy” and for “Crash;” that one also yielded a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Dillon also made a strong directing debut in 2003 with moody thriller “City of Ghosts” co-starring James Caan, Gerard Depardieu, and Stellan Skarsgård.
None of that addressed an all-consuming passion for world music with a vast collection of vinyl and shellac 78s (sorted alphabetically by artist or label), and making a documentary about Cuban scat singer Francisco Fellove that took him 20 years to complete. “The Great Fellove” debuted to rave reviews at San Sebastian 2020, and more recently, Telluride 2021.
in the film, Cuban rumba performer Chan Campos describes Fellove: “He was a drum from his feet to his head.” (See our clip below.) Dillon’s documentary captures the scat maestro who gave us the original “Mango Mangue,...
None of that addressed an all-consuming passion for world music with a vast collection of vinyl and shellac 78s (sorted alphabetically by artist or label), and making a documentary about Cuban scat singer Francisco Fellove that took him 20 years to complete. “The Great Fellove” debuted to rave reviews at San Sebastian 2020, and more recently, Telluride 2021.
in the film, Cuban rumba performer Chan Campos describes Fellove: “He was a drum from his feet to his head.” (See our clip below.) Dillon’s documentary captures the scat maestro who gave us the original “Mango Mangue,...
- 9/17/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Buena Vista Social Club have released a new video — featuring previously unseen footage — for their classic track, “El Cuatro De Tula.”
The new clip boasts video taken during Buena Vista Social Club’s 1996 recording sessions in Havana, which were filmed by Susan Titelman. The group’s performance of “El Cuarto De Tula” is inch perfect and features laud player Barbarito Torres delivering his one-take solo in real time.
The “El Cuatro De Tula” video arrives ahead of the release of a 25th anniversary reissue of Buena Vista Social Club’s celebrated self-titled album.
The new clip boasts video taken during Buena Vista Social Club’s 1996 recording sessions in Havana, which were filmed by Susan Titelman. The group’s performance of “El Cuarto De Tula” is inch perfect and features laud player Barbarito Torres delivering his one-take solo in real time.
The “El Cuatro De Tula” video arrives ahead of the release of a 25th anniversary reissue of Buena Vista Social Club’s celebrated self-titled album.
- 8/18/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Buena Vista Social Club have unearthed a previously unreleased track, “Vicenta,” which will appear on the upcoming 25th-anniversary reissue of the Cuban outfit’s acclaimed self-titled album, out September 17th via World Circuit Records.
Penned by Compay Segundo, “Vicenta” recounts the story of a 1909 fire that destroyed nearly all of the village of La Maya, located outside of Santiago. Buena Vista Social Club’s version of the song is presented as a duet between Segundo and Eliades Ochoa, who was born and raised in La Maya.
“Vicenta” is one of...
Penned by Compay Segundo, “Vicenta” recounts the story of a 1909 fire that destroyed nearly all of the village of La Maya, located outside of Santiago. Buena Vista Social Club’s version of the song is presented as a duet between Segundo and Eliades Ochoa, who was born and raised in La Maya.
“Vicenta” is one of...
- 6/9/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
“You can tell a Cuban by the way they laugh,” says Omara Portuondo.
Just hours shy of her Friday night concert in Manhattan’s Sony Hall — halfway through her last-ever worldwide tour, dubbed the ‘Last Kiss’ — one of Cuba’s most exalted singers turned heads as she let burst a throaty cackle. The 88-year-old not only has a natural gift for music, but for conjuring smiles wherever she goes. “Cubans make big laughs,” she tells Rolling Stone. “What defines our people is our happiness.”
Portuondo had been celebrated in her home country for decades,...
Just hours shy of her Friday night concert in Manhattan’s Sony Hall — halfway through her last-ever worldwide tour, dubbed the ‘Last Kiss’ — one of Cuba’s most exalted singers turned heads as she let burst a throaty cackle. The 88-year-old not only has a natural gift for music, but for conjuring smiles wherever she goes. “Cubans make big laughs,” she tells Rolling Stone. “What defines our people is our happiness.”
Portuondo had been celebrated in her home country for decades,...
- 5/3/2019
- by Suzy Exposito
- Rollingstone.com
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
- 7/24/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
It’s been 20 years since the Buena Vista Social Club album made Cuban music a crossover sensation in the U.S. (for the first time since the ’50s), and 18 years since Wim Wenders’ documentary of the same title played in theaters. What’s become of the gifted musicians who found renewed or belated fame and fortune as a result of those projects? Buena Vista Social Club: Adios seeks to fill in the gap, but this sequel’s subtitle is all too literal. Many of the group’s most prominent figures were already quite elderly two decades ago. Sadly, the answer to the question “Where are they now?” tends to be “dead.” Nor did they pass away recently, after taking part in the new movie. Tres player Compay Segundo and pianist Rubén González, for example, both died back in 2003. Vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer died in 2005. Adios serves as ...
- 5/25/2017
- by Mike D'Angelo
- avclub.com
Recognition is a funny and fickle thing. This is especially true in art, where often one’s accomplishments aren’t recognized until after the artist is dead. We live under a collective myth that simply creating something of quality is enough, even though it’s plain that it’s almost never that simple. Attention is hard to corral, and there’s simply far too much going on for many incredible things to be noticed. Talent, skill, and hard work matter of course, but you also need a lot of luck.
The musicians that Ry Cooder found in Cuba were long forgotten. Many of them had been stars in the 40s and 50s, but most were now languishing in poverty. More than that, they were no longer able to make their art. The records they made together, along with this film, gave quite a few of them the best years of their lives.
The musicians that Ry Cooder found in Cuba were long forgotten. Many of them had been stars in the 40s and 50s, but most were now languishing in poverty. More than that, they were no longer able to make their art. The records they made together, along with this film, gave quite a few of them the best years of their lives.
- 5/5/2017
- by Arik Devens
- CriterionCast
Cuba has just been opened up to Americans, but twenty years ago musician Ry Cooder saw to it that a vanishing music tradition was preserved for posterity. Wim Wenders followed up with this rough & ready documentary that became almost as popular as the best selling album of mambos, boleros and cha-chas.
Buena Vista Social Club
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 866
1999 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 105 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 18, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo, Rubén González, Orlando ‘Cachaíto’ López, Amadito Valdés, Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal, Barbarito Torres, Pío Leyva, Manuel ‘Puntillita’ Licea, Juan de Marcos González.
Cinematography: Jörg Widmer
Film Editor: Brian Johnson
Written by Wim Wenders, concept Nick Gold
Produced by Deepak Nayar
Directed by Wim Wenders
Looking for something new and invigorating, in the late 1980s Paul Simon collaborated with South African vocalists for a refreshing pop hybrid album...
Buena Vista Social Club
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 866
1999 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 105 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 18, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo, Rubén González, Orlando ‘Cachaíto’ López, Amadito Valdés, Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal, Barbarito Torres, Pío Leyva, Manuel ‘Puntillita’ Licea, Juan de Marcos González.
Cinematography: Jörg Widmer
Film Editor: Brian Johnson
Written by Wim Wenders, concept Nick Gold
Produced by Deepak Nayar
Directed by Wim Wenders
Looking for something new and invigorating, in the late 1980s Paul Simon collaborated with South African vocalists for a refreshing pop hybrid album...
- 4/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As films about Ginger Baker and the Stone Roses are released, here's our pick of the movies in which film-makers focus on the drama behind the songs
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (2005)
"Our band could be your life," sang the Minutemen in History Lesson Part II – a line that embodied the fierce love the audiences of the Us indie underground held for their bands. The Minutemen were pioneers, coming out of the southern California hardcore punk scene, but to be tied to it, and living what they preached – "We jam econo," was a phrase bassist Mike Watt coined to describe a commitment to doing everything cheaply and independently. More than a history lesson, though, We Jam Econo is a deeply moving love letter from Watt to his friend – and the Minutemen's leader – D Boon, who died in...
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (2005)
"Our band could be your life," sang the Minutemen in History Lesson Part II – a line that embodied the fierce love the audiences of the Us indie underground held for their bands. The Minutemen were pioneers, coming out of the southern California hardcore punk scene, but to be tied to it, and living what they preached – "We jam econo," was a phrase bassist Mike Watt coined to describe a commitment to doing everything cheaply and independently. More than a history lesson, though, We Jam Econo is a deeply moving love letter from Watt to his friend – and the Minutemen's leader – D Boon, who died in...
- 5/18/2013
- by Michael Hann
- The Guardian - Film News
Raynier Casamayor Griñán is a twenty something year-old doctor who lives high up in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Santiago de Cuba. Known as ‘El Médico’ he serves his community, treating patients at the town clinic and making home visits. But he longs to be a musician, a rapper, a reggaetonero. He’s been making music for years, singing and rapping whenever he gets a chance. As soon as he heard the early songs of the Panamanian, ‘El General’ he knew he wanted to mix reggae, hip-hop and Cuban rhythms--transforming him into one of the pioneers of Cuban reggaetón, known as Cubatón.
Enter two Swedes--Michel Miglis, a music producer determined to make the young doctor an international star and Daniel Fridell, a film director who documented the ups and downs of El Médico’s fledgling music career. Fridell captured everything in his documentary: Michel pressuring El Médico to use sexy ladies in bikinis for his music videos, El Médico’s mother’s disapproving glances, and the euphoria of topping the charts with “Chupa Chupa,” El Médico’s first international single. The result is El Médico: The Cubatón Story, a rollercoaster ride of a film, that takes you on a journey with an artist determined to succeed in spite of various obstacles--set to the thumping bass of the hottest Cubatón and with Cuba’s
El Médico: The Cubatón Story will have its New York premiere at the New York International Latino Film Festival on Wednesday, August 15. Despite attempts to bring El Médico to New York for the screening, an exit visa was denied for the musician by his home country. So, here’s the next best thing--an interview with El Médico himself.
El MÉDico: The CubatÓN Story
Director: Daniel Fridell | Cuba, Sweden
Screening at 7:00 Pm | Wed, Aug 15 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas
Buy Tickets Here
Which would you rather be--a doctor or a musician?
I like to help people as a doctor. In a perfect world I would be able to sing and work as a doctor at the same time.
When did you realize you wanted to be a musician? Do you remember the first time you performed in front of an audience?
I always liked music. I was always singing on the street. When I was studying at the Camilo Cienfuegos military school, there was a show and I was asked to sing. I didn’t know what to sing. But then I remembered Shaka Sankofa. He was an African American on death row in Texas who was executed without real evidence by then Governor George W. Bush. I remembered watching it on television, with my mother. We watched his friends and family cry, it was very touching and at the same time made me angry. I started to write a song about it and the words found themselves on the paper.
So at my very first performance I sang the first song I wrote, about Shaka Sankofa. First, I thought that nobody liked it. After my performance everybody was quiet. Then, suddenly, everybody stood up and applauded and shouted the last words of the chorus “negro sigue adelante”, “black people keep on moving forward”. It was very touching.
What kind of music did you listen to when you were growing up? Who are some of your musical influences?
My parents listened to Salsa, Son Cubano, and American Rock and Roll. I was very influenced by Jamaican musicians like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff and also Cuban Conga. There are many Merengue bands that influenced me and some American hip-hop artists like Tupac and Biggie. If I had to just name one it would have to be Compay Segundo.
Explain how you met and started working with your Swedish musical producer, Michel Miglis.
I was working at my medical clinic, doing my social service for el Comandante, up in the Sierra Maestra mountains. One day a tourist, Michel, showed up. He said he had heard a tape of my music in Havana and wanted to make music with me. I did not want to work with this guy at first.
Back in 2003, a producer from the Emi record company came to Santiago and made music with a lot of local artists. He promised us fame and fortune but left Cuba without giving us anything. Later, I found out that they sold our music all over the world, even in the United States. They never gave any Cuban artists a dime. So I was scared. But, then I thought to myself: “This crazy guy came here, walking for many hours, carrying his recording stuff and wants to make a song in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains, why not give it a try? It won’t take too much effort.”
I had many seriously-ill patients in the clinic that weekend. A child and an older woman caught Dengue so I had to make Michel wait. But, the next day I sat in front of his microphones and wrote the song “Chupa Chupa.” And to my surprise, two months later, the song went on to be a hit all over the world. Every week, I would meet tourists who had heard the song in discotheques and in clubs in Israel, Jamaica, Canada, Italy and Japan. It was crazy.
Your song, “Chupa-Chupa” was included on the album "Cubatón, Reggaetón a lo cubano" with other Cuban artists like Candyman, Cubanito 20-02, Klan Destino y La Familia. It reached the top ten in Spain. How did everyone around you react to the news?
I heard the news from a Spanish tourist. I was very happy, my friends were very supportive. It was very big news in Cuba. No Cuban artist had reached the top of the charts for many years. My mother did not like it. For her it meant less of a focus on my work as doctor.
Your music had already been very popular inside of Cuba - did it feel different to know that people outside of Cuba were listening to your music too?
Of course it was nice have an international hit, but it was hard to know that these people in other countries liked my music. I wanted really badly to go there to perform, to meet them, to see them.
How did you meet the film’s director, Daniel Fridell? What did you think when he asked you to be in his documentary?
He was introduced to me by my then producer, Michel. Well, it was kinda exciting to be in a film. A actual film that was all about me. But, at the same time scary, what would my mother think? What would my friends think? What would my patients think? Also, could I trust these guys? So many foreigners come to Cuba and take photos, make films and music and when they leave you never hear of them again. Another thing that was important was, how were they going to portray Cuba? It is so easy to generalize and say we are good or bad or the cliches: the beautiful and happy but poor people.
But, then again you must ask yourself what is poor? And what is happy? People who visit Cuba see the facades of our broken-down deteriorating houses, but they don’t see the inside. Tourists see our smiling faces, but they don’t hear our inner voices. Cuba is very very complicated, multifaceted and very very special. I love Cuba, and didn’t want to be part of something that created a bad image of my people. But, after a while, I realized that these guys also loved Cuba. That, I think, was the point that made me trust them fully.
Your mom is a big part of the film. She wants you to be a doctor and does not approve of the sexy music videos. Has she seen the film? Does she feel differently about your music since seeing the film?
She was very suspicious, she still is. It was a very, very, very long process. We started shooting the film a long time ago. Five years later, she accepts my singing career a little bit more, but not totally.
Have you seen the film? What did you think about it? Is there anything you would change about the film?
I like it, I am proud of it. But, I would put some more songs from me in there.
Are you recording new music?
I write a new song every day. Santiago de Cuba inspires me every day, in every which way, and I come up with new material.
In the film - you say that, in Cuba, you don’t need to use sex to sell music. Michel constantly pushed to have female dancers who are wearing very little clothes be in your music videos. Has this changed with your new music? Are you still working with Michel?
Many people use sexy dancers here too. Even Cuban producers push that. But, I prefer sensuality, not selling out. If you use only sex, you’re probably trying to cover up that your music isn’t very good. I do my own thing now, more influenced by Conga, African roots, and Merengue. The images for my new stuff will come out of the music and not out of the marketing mind.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature onSydneysBuzzthat highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow@LatinoBuzzon twitter.
Enter two Swedes--Michel Miglis, a music producer determined to make the young doctor an international star and Daniel Fridell, a film director who documented the ups and downs of El Médico’s fledgling music career. Fridell captured everything in his documentary: Michel pressuring El Médico to use sexy ladies in bikinis for his music videos, El Médico’s mother’s disapproving glances, and the euphoria of topping the charts with “Chupa Chupa,” El Médico’s first international single. The result is El Médico: The Cubatón Story, a rollercoaster ride of a film, that takes you on a journey with an artist determined to succeed in spite of various obstacles--set to the thumping bass of the hottest Cubatón and with Cuba’s
El Médico: The Cubatón Story will have its New York premiere at the New York International Latino Film Festival on Wednesday, August 15. Despite attempts to bring El Médico to New York for the screening, an exit visa was denied for the musician by his home country. So, here’s the next best thing--an interview with El Médico himself.
El MÉDico: The CubatÓN Story
Director: Daniel Fridell | Cuba, Sweden
Screening at 7:00 Pm | Wed, Aug 15 | Chelsea Clearview Cinemas
Buy Tickets Here
Which would you rather be--a doctor or a musician?
I like to help people as a doctor. In a perfect world I would be able to sing and work as a doctor at the same time.
When did you realize you wanted to be a musician? Do you remember the first time you performed in front of an audience?
I always liked music. I was always singing on the street. When I was studying at the Camilo Cienfuegos military school, there was a show and I was asked to sing. I didn’t know what to sing. But then I remembered Shaka Sankofa. He was an African American on death row in Texas who was executed without real evidence by then Governor George W. Bush. I remembered watching it on television, with my mother. We watched his friends and family cry, it was very touching and at the same time made me angry. I started to write a song about it and the words found themselves on the paper.
So at my very first performance I sang the first song I wrote, about Shaka Sankofa. First, I thought that nobody liked it. After my performance everybody was quiet. Then, suddenly, everybody stood up and applauded and shouted the last words of the chorus “negro sigue adelante”, “black people keep on moving forward”. It was very touching.
What kind of music did you listen to when you were growing up? Who are some of your musical influences?
My parents listened to Salsa, Son Cubano, and American Rock and Roll. I was very influenced by Jamaican musicians like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff and also Cuban Conga. There are many Merengue bands that influenced me and some American hip-hop artists like Tupac and Biggie. If I had to just name one it would have to be Compay Segundo.
Explain how you met and started working with your Swedish musical producer, Michel Miglis.
I was working at my medical clinic, doing my social service for el Comandante, up in the Sierra Maestra mountains. One day a tourist, Michel, showed up. He said he had heard a tape of my music in Havana and wanted to make music with me. I did not want to work with this guy at first.
Back in 2003, a producer from the Emi record company came to Santiago and made music with a lot of local artists. He promised us fame and fortune but left Cuba without giving us anything. Later, I found out that they sold our music all over the world, even in the United States. They never gave any Cuban artists a dime. So I was scared. But, then I thought to myself: “This crazy guy came here, walking for many hours, carrying his recording stuff and wants to make a song in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains, why not give it a try? It won’t take too much effort.”
I had many seriously-ill patients in the clinic that weekend. A child and an older woman caught Dengue so I had to make Michel wait. But, the next day I sat in front of his microphones and wrote the song “Chupa Chupa.” And to my surprise, two months later, the song went on to be a hit all over the world. Every week, I would meet tourists who had heard the song in discotheques and in clubs in Israel, Jamaica, Canada, Italy and Japan. It was crazy.
Your song, “Chupa-Chupa” was included on the album "Cubatón, Reggaetón a lo cubano" with other Cuban artists like Candyman, Cubanito 20-02, Klan Destino y La Familia. It reached the top ten in Spain. How did everyone around you react to the news?
I heard the news from a Spanish tourist. I was very happy, my friends were very supportive. It was very big news in Cuba. No Cuban artist had reached the top of the charts for many years. My mother did not like it. For her it meant less of a focus on my work as doctor.
Your music had already been very popular inside of Cuba - did it feel different to know that people outside of Cuba were listening to your music too?
Of course it was nice have an international hit, but it was hard to know that these people in other countries liked my music. I wanted really badly to go there to perform, to meet them, to see them.
How did you meet the film’s director, Daniel Fridell? What did you think when he asked you to be in his documentary?
He was introduced to me by my then producer, Michel. Well, it was kinda exciting to be in a film. A actual film that was all about me. But, at the same time scary, what would my mother think? What would my friends think? What would my patients think? Also, could I trust these guys? So many foreigners come to Cuba and take photos, make films and music and when they leave you never hear of them again. Another thing that was important was, how were they going to portray Cuba? It is so easy to generalize and say we are good or bad or the cliches: the beautiful and happy but poor people.
But, then again you must ask yourself what is poor? And what is happy? People who visit Cuba see the facades of our broken-down deteriorating houses, but they don’t see the inside. Tourists see our smiling faces, but they don’t hear our inner voices. Cuba is very very complicated, multifaceted and very very special. I love Cuba, and didn’t want to be part of something that created a bad image of my people. But, after a while, I realized that these guys also loved Cuba. That, I think, was the point that made me trust them fully.
Your mom is a big part of the film. She wants you to be a doctor and does not approve of the sexy music videos. Has she seen the film? Does she feel differently about your music since seeing the film?
She was very suspicious, she still is. It was a very, very, very long process. We started shooting the film a long time ago. Five years later, she accepts my singing career a little bit more, but not totally.
Have you seen the film? What did you think about it? Is there anything you would change about the film?
I like it, I am proud of it. But, I would put some more songs from me in there.
Are you recording new music?
I write a new song every day. Santiago de Cuba inspires me every day, in every which way, and I come up with new material.
In the film - you say that, in Cuba, you don’t need to use sex to sell music. Michel constantly pushed to have female dancers who are wearing very little clothes be in your music videos. Has this changed with your new music? Are you still working with Michel?
Many people use sexy dancers here too. Even Cuban producers push that. But, I prefer sensuality, not selling out. If you use only sex, you’re probably trying to cover up that your music isn’t very good. I do my own thing now, more influenced by Conga, African roots, and Merengue. The images for my new stuff will come out of the music and not out of the marketing mind.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature onSydneysBuzzthat highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow@LatinoBuzzon twitter.
- 8/15/2012
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
Ry Cooder's plaintive, sinuous guitar work has been an indispensable contribution to the films of Wim Wenders and Walter Hill. With "Buena Vista Social Club", gifted German director Wenders returns the favor via a loving, vivid documentary that not only explores Cooder's music, craftsmanship, culture and roots but becomes a meditation on creativity.
The spellbinding work, a special screening at the Berlin Film Festival, should tap an appreciative audience that will respond strongly to its soulful celebration and sense of wonder. "I've been making records for 35 years. I never know how the public is going to respond, but this was most enjoyment I ever had," Cooder says early on. In 1996, during a visit to Havana, Cooder sought out the surviving members of Cuba's vibrant pre-revolutionary music scene to collaborate on an album. "In Cuba", Cooder says, "the music flows like a river." The finished work, "Buena Vista Social Club", was a critical and commercial phenomenon.
Wenders, operating with a small, guerrilla crew (the movie was shot on digital video and Beta camcorder), showcases 1998 concerts staged in New York and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Like Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense", the portrait is deeply humane, evoking detailed texture and an emotionally riveting examination of the 13 Cuban singers and musicians that complemented Cooder's usual sidemen.
Denied overt political or ideological "insights," "Social Club" exists on a deeper, direct level of camaraderie and musical kinship. One feels like an anthropologist bearing witness to a forgotten, buried world.
Wenders' excursion into the exotic, desperate streets of Havana transcends conventional documentary form, providing voice and shape to the compelling personalities. Cooder functions in the background, willingly assimilating his voice into the collective. The dominant figures are two incredible subjects: Compay Segundo ("a Cuban Nat King Cole," Cooder says), an astonishing 91-year-old guitarist and singer with an expressive face and liquid eyes, and chanteuse Omara Portuondo, daughter of a prominent Cuban baseball player, whose deep-lined face and electric voice are magical and transcendent.
In Wenders' fiction films, the road is unstable and rootless, a place from which people are constantly fleeing. However, the Havana that Wenders conjures seems trapped in space, with 1950s shark-fin convertibles and once-elegant facades of crumbling architecture illustrating the elusive, mysterious Soneros music scene.
"Social Club" puts a human voice to a world that for many existed only in the abstract. In deft visual and cinematic language, it transports us to an exciting time that the world should be privileged to experience, at least for one night.
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
Road Movies
A Wim Wenders film
Producer-director: Wim Wenders
Directors of photography: Jorg Widmer, Robby Muller
Editor: Peter Przygodda
Color/stereo
With: Ry Cooder, Joaquim Cooder, Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, Orlando Lopez "Cachaito", Barbarito Torres, Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, Raul Planas, Felix Valoy, Richard Egues, Maceo Rodriguez
No MPAA rating...
The spellbinding work, a special screening at the Berlin Film Festival, should tap an appreciative audience that will respond strongly to its soulful celebration and sense of wonder. "I've been making records for 35 years. I never know how the public is going to respond, but this was most enjoyment I ever had," Cooder says early on. In 1996, during a visit to Havana, Cooder sought out the surviving members of Cuba's vibrant pre-revolutionary music scene to collaborate on an album. "In Cuba", Cooder says, "the music flows like a river." The finished work, "Buena Vista Social Club", was a critical and commercial phenomenon.
Wenders, operating with a small, guerrilla crew (the movie was shot on digital video and Beta camcorder), showcases 1998 concerts staged in New York and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Like Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense", the portrait is deeply humane, evoking detailed texture and an emotionally riveting examination of the 13 Cuban singers and musicians that complemented Cooder's usual sidemen.
Denied overt political or ideological "insights," "Social Club" exists on a deeper, direct level of camaraderie and musical kinship. One feels like an anthropologist bearing witness to a forgotten, buried world.
Wenders' excursion into the exotic, desperate streets of Havana transcends conventional documentary form, providing voice and shape to the compelling personalities. Cooder functions in the background, willingly assimilating his voice into the collective. The dominant figures are two incredible subjects: Compay Segundo ("a Cuban Nat King Cole," Cooder says), an astonishing 91-year-old guitarist and singer with an expressive face and liquid eyes, and chanteuse Omara Portuondo, daughter of a prominent Cuban baseball player, whose deep-lined face and electric voice are magical and transcendent.
In Wenders' fiction films, the road is unstable and rootless, a place from which people are constantly fleeing. However, the Havana that Wenders conjures seems trapped in space, with 1950s shark-fin convertibles and once-elegant facades of crumbling architecture illustrating the elusive, mysterious Soneros music scene.
"Social Club" puts a human voice to a world that for many existed only in the abstract. In deft visual and cinematic language, it transports us to an exciting time that the world should be privileged to experience, at least for one night.
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
Road Movies
A Wim Wenders film
Producer-director: Wim Wenders
Directors of photography: Jorg Widmer, Robby Muller
Editor: Peter Przygodda
Color/stereo
With: Ry Cooder, Joaquim Cooder, Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, Orlando Lopez "Cachaito", Barbarito Torres, Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, Raul Planas, Felix Valoy, Richard Egues, Maceo Rodriguez
No MPAA rating...
- 2/22/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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