Director: Wim Wenders

Summary: The story of the album, featuring the musicians of Cuba recreating their music and ending with concerts in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall.

No one can recall exactly where the Buena Vista Social Club once stood in pre- revolutionary Havana but Wim Wender's documentary of a dozen legendary musicians resurrects the magnificent music of the era. Guitarist Ry Cooder assembled the aging singers and musicians for a series of recording sessions. The resulting 1997 album won a Grammy. The music performances are intercut with shots of the performers reminiscing in decaying Havana bars.

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In 1996, composer, producer, and guitar legend Ry Cooder entered Egrem Studios in Havana with the forgotten greats of Cuban music, many of them in their 60s and 70s, some of them long since retired. The resulting album, Buena Vista Social Club, became a Grammy-winning international bestseller. When Cooder returned to Havana in 1998 to record a solo album by 72-year-old vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer, filmmaker Wim Wenders was on hand to document the occasion. Wenders splits the film between portraits of the performers, who tell their stories directly to the camera as they wander the streets and neighbourhoods of Havana, and a celebration of the music heard in performance scenes in the studio, in their first concert in Amsterdam, and in their second and final concert at Carnegie Hall. The songs are too often cut short in this fashion, but Buena Vista Social Clubis not a concert film. Wenders weaves the artist biographies with a glimpse of modern Cuba remembering its past, capturing a lost culture in music that is suddenly, unexpectedly revived for audiences in Havana and around the world. Wenders makes his presence practically invisible, as if his directorial flourishes or off-screen narration might deflect attention from the artists, who do a fine job of telling their own stories through interviews and music. It's a loving portrait of a master class in Cuban music, with a vital cast of ageing performers whose energy and passion belie their years. --Sean Axmaker

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English, Spanish
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Scene Index, Theatrical Trailer, Directors Commentary, Deleted Scenes
Year:	1999
Release Date:	June 16, 2003
Runtime:	100 minutes
Certification:	Exempt.
Catalogue Number:	C C D 9519
Label:	Film Four Distributors
Keywords:	Music, English, Club, Entertainment, Documentary, Spanish, Social, Vista, Cuban, Buena
Genre:	Documentaries & Biographies