Buena Vista Social Club

Music, Documentary, Musical

Luis Barzaga	Himself
Joachim Cooder	Himself
Ry Cooder	Himself
Juan de Marcos González	Himself
Julio Alberto Fernández	Himself
Ibrahim Ferrer	Himself
Carlos González	Himself
Rubén González	Himself
Salvador Repilado Labrada	Himself
Pío Leyva	Himself
Compay Segundo	Himself
Eliades Ochoa	Himself
Omara Portuondo	Herself
Orlando 'Cachaíto' López	Himself
Amadito Valdés	Himself
Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal	Himself
Alberto 'Virgilio' Valdés

Director	Wim Wenders; Wenders
Producer	Deepak Nayar; Ulrich Felsberg; Rosa Bosch
Writer	Wim Wenders; Wenders

Swinging Havana is the backdrop for this documentary, which is named for Cuba's famous dance hall and nightclub of the 1940s. Musician Ry Cooder traveled to Cuba and gathered the artists who defined the Havana's Latin American jazz sound. His initial intent was to release an album but, along the way, the artists' stories provided great fodder for a film. As the musicians jam together, they also reminisce about their pasts, musical and otherwise. These scenes are punctuated with shots of Havana architecture and landscape. After joining in on performances and conducting informal interviews, Cooder then took the musicians, many of them in their 80s and even 90s, to visit New York City, which provides an interesting contrast to the film's opening scenes.