Traveling with a small film crew, Wim Wenders accompanied his old friend Ry Cooder—who did the fantastic score for Paris, Texas—on a trip to Havana. Once there, Wenders immersed himself in the world of Cuban music. Over the course of several months, he observed and accompanied the musicians—first at home in Havana; weeks later, in April 1998, on their trip to Amsterdam for the first public performance of the Buena Vista Social Club (who had never played together outside a studio); then, in July 1998, to their triumphal concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall. “I thought, I’ll shoot a documentary,” Wenders has said, “and here we were, about to witness a fairy tale that no one could have imagined in this form.” The film became a cinematic sensation and an international success, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Join the crew of the Buena Vista Social Club musical, featuring director Saheem Ali and producer Orin Wolf, for a special screening on July 14. Presented as part of Life on the Stage: Conversation and Film.
