In 1996, Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, British producer Nick Gold, and American guitarist Ry Cooder convened in Havana to supply a Cuban-Malian collaboration. When the Malians couldn’t get visas, the crew turned their consideration to reviving a forgotten era of legendary son cubano musicians and fashioned an on-the-fly ensemble: the Buena Vista Social Membership. Twenty years since that fateful first session, we catch as much as these grasp musicians, as they replicate on the magical unfolding of their lives—from humble origins to the evolution and stunning revival of their careers, all towards the backdrop of Cuba’s dramatic historical past. Brimming with unseen live performance, rehearsal, and archival footage, this movie is an emotional, shimmering celebration of music’s energy to transcend age, ideologies, and sophistication, and to attach us to one another by way of our souls.
