Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club is a 1999 documentary film directed by Wim Wenders about the music of Cuba. It is named for a danzón that became the title piece of the album Buena Vista Social Club. The film is an international co-production of Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Cuba. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. Content The film documents how Ry Cooder, long-time friend of Wenders, brought together the ensemble of legendary Cuban musicians to record an album (also called Buena Vista Social Club) and to perform two times with a full line-up: in April 1998 in Amsterdam (two nights) and the 1st of July 1998 in the United States (at the Carnegie Hall, New York City). Although they are geographically close, travel between Cuba and the United States is restricted due to the political tension between the two countries, so many of the artists were travelling there for the first time. The film shows their reactions to this experience, as well as including footage of the resultant sell-out concert. It also includes interviews with each of the main performers. Musicians Francisco Repilado, aka Compay Segundo (vocals and tres) Eliades Ochoa (vocals and guitar) Ry Cooder (slide guitar) Joachim Cooder, Ry's son (percussion) Ibrahim Ferrer (vocals, congas, claves, bongos) Omara Portuondo (vocals) Rubén González (piano) Orlando "Cachaito" López (Double bass) Amadito Valdés Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal (trumpet) Barbarito Torres (laúd) Pío Leyva Manuel "Puntillita" Licea (vocals) Juan de Marcos González (güiro)