Si Sos Brujo: A Tango Story
(If You Know Magic) Directed
by
Caroline W. Neal ARGENTINA / 2005 / 79minutes
New York Premiere
Screening
Times and Venues:
Bearsville Theater
10/13/2006, 10:00PM
$15
SYNOPSIS:
Ticket includes Tango Dance Party following the screening
"Si Sos Brujo" is a heartfelt, inspiring film that could do for Argentine Tango what the Buena Vista Social Club did for the music and musicians of Cuba -- illuminating an evolving culture, a way of life and the triumph of preserving one of the most intricate musical traditions of the world, following nearly 50 years of relative obscurity.
This beautifully-shot doc by talented director Carolina Neal, brings us the compelling story of a group of young Argentine musicians racing against time to learn & preserve the exquisitely, nuanced music played by the legendary Golden Age tango orchestras of Buenos Aires in the 40s & early 50s.
They can't do it from old recordings and charts alone. They want to start a tango orchestra school but they need the ?old guard' - the true tango maestros- to lead them, to transmit and pass on the teachings, before the aging musical icons pass on.
The young musicians (who went on to form El Arranque, one of the most accomplished tango orchestras today) find Emilio Balcarce, the legendary bandoneonista , violinist, and composer, who is coaxed out of retirement at the sprightly age of 87, to lead the orchestra and a new generation of musicians into the magic that is tango.
If you are at all familiar with the names of Pugliese, Troilo and Piazzolla, "Si Sos Brujo" is essential viewing. Yet it has broad appeal- -anyone interested in the creative, musical process will love this film. The story is compelling, its' characters engaging and passionate , and the music is just gorgeous.
(Ilene Marder, Woodstock Tango)
BIO:
Caroline Neal was born in Danville, Virginia, in the United States in 1965. She lived for ten years in Boston; she graduated from Harvard University, majoring in the Comparative Study of World Religions with a focus on Islam. She received the "Benjamin Trustman Fellowship" for independent studies in India examining the relationship between contemplative life and social activism; she worked for Mother Teresa, and lived in Hindu ashrams and a Buddhist monastery. She received her Masters of Fine Arts at New York University, where she won the Martin Scorsese Post-Production Award. She moved to Buenos Aires in 2000 to work on her first feature-length film, the documentary "Si Sos Brujo" about the creation of the Tango Orchestra School. At that point, the school was still just a good idea without funding. She fell in love with the founder of the school, Ignacio Varchausky. They live in Buenos Aires.
MAIN CREDITS:
Cast/Featuring:
Ignacio Varchausky and Emilio Balcarce
Executive Producer(s): Caroline W. Neal, Vanessa Ragone
Producer(s): TangoVia Buenos Aires, The Hawthorne Drivers, Zona Audiovisual
Director(s): Caroline W. Neal
Screenwriter(s): Alberto Muñoz, Caroline W. Neal
Cinematographer(s): Marcelo Lavintman, Diego Poleri
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annual program and year-round schedule of film, music,
and art-related activities that promote artists, culture,
inspired learning, and diversity. The Hudson Valley Film
Commission promotes sustainable economic development
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