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Buena Vista Social Club (Criterion Collection)

Traveling from the streets of Havana to the stage of Carnegie Hall, this revelatory documentary captures a forgotten generation of Cuba’s brightest musical talents as they enjoy an unexpected brush with world fame. The veteran vocalists and instrumentalists collaborated with American guitarist and roots-music champion Ry Cooder to form the Buena Vista Social Club, playing a jazz-inflected mix of cha-cha, mambo, bolero, and other traditional Latin American styles, and recording an album that won a Grammy and made them an international phenomenon. In the wake of this success, director Wim Wenders filmed the ensemble’s members—including golden-voiced Ibrahim Ferrer and piano virtuoso Rubén González—in a series of illuminating interviews and live performances. The result is one of the most beloved music documentaries of the 1990s, and an infectious ode to a neglected corner of Cuba’s prerevolutionary heritage.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New high-definition digital transfer, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentary from 1999 featuring director Wim Wenders
• New interview with Wenders
• We Believe in Dreams, a new piece featuring never-before-seen outtakes from the rehearsals for the Buena Vista Social Club’s Amsterdam concerts
• Interview from 1998 with musician Compay Segundo on his career and the Cuban music scene
• Radio interviews from 2000 featuring musicians Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, and others
• Additional scenes
• Trailer

PLUS: An essay by author and geographer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro"

GENRE: Documentary

LANGUAGE: Spanish, English

English Subtitles

AUDIO: 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Master Audio

COLOR

TIME: 105 Minutes