The Power of Their
Song is a
90-minute documentary film (currently in production) about beloved,
Latin American folk-based musicians, most notably Victor Jara (view latest news about
Victor Jara), who sang
moving songs of freedom during times of dictatorship.
Their
powerful songs, composed largely during the 1960's and 1970's, blend
beautiful, and at times haunting, melodies with passionate and poetic
lyrics expressing the hopes and fears of a generation of Latin
Americans.
Known as Nueva
Cancion, or New
Song, this tradition of rural, folkloric music has continued to evolve,
absorbing many different regional influences and taking on new creative
forms. Well-known musicians from around the world have covered some
songs in the tradition.
Victor
Jara
Poet/Singer-Songwriter
Chile
(1932-1973).
New! Peter Seeger
Remembers Victor
Jara
...
Weaving together interviews and rare
archival footage (of artists' lives, performances, political events, and
historic festivals), The Power of Their Song will portray, for the first time on
film, the individual journeys of New Song musicians, their legacy, and
the enduring power of the music.
Today, with the lifting of censorship
and the gradual return of democratic rule in many countries of Latin
America, the tradition of New Song is experiencing a major resurgence,
particularly among younger musicians. Young musicians are again
producing songs directly addressing social and political
conditions.
Daniel Viglietti
Singer-Songwriter/Composer/Activist
Uruguay
(1939- )
Through interviews and the use of rare
(and largely unseen) historical film footage, photos and other archival
material, The Power of
Their Song will
depict the often defiant lives of a generation of New Song musicians,
and the watershed events into which they were swept.
Using interviews to be filmed
across South and Central America, the film will document the remaining
major artists of this period, including: Roy Brown of Puerto Rico, Daniel Viglietti of Uruguay, Silvio Rodriguez of Cuba, Leon Gieco and Mercedes Sosa of Argentina, Chico Buarque of Brazil, Gabino Palomares of Mexico, as well as musicians from
Venezuela, Nicaragua and other Latin American
countries. |
 ........
Alfredo Zitarrosa
Composer/Poet/Singer-Songwriter
Uruguay
(1936-1989)....
While its roots lie deep in Latin
American culture and history, New Song music was first brought to the
attention of the world when totalitarian military regimes seized power
in South America during the 1970s.
Torture and death or
disappearance became the tragic fate of thousands of citizens during
this period, including the now legendary (but hardly known in the USA)
Victor
Jara of Chile, a
popular and talented singer-songwriter who was executed for his songs of
justice and freedom. Other New Song artists were driven into exile to
avoid a similar fate.
Later, during the 1980s, a second, deadlier
wave of terror swept through Central America in genocidal proportions.
Again, New Song artists urgently sang about these horrific human rights
violations.
Mercedes Sosa
Singer
Argentina (1935-2009)
In addition to interviews with Latin
American New
Song musicians and
key persons involved in the movement, testimony will be sought from
well-known North American artists such as Pete Seeger, Jackson Browne, Bono of U2, Bruce
Cockburn,
Joan
Baez, Arlo Guthrie, and Peter, Paul & Mary, as well
as surviving members of The Clash. These musicians all have a connection
to Latin American New Song artists and music.
Roy
Brown
Composer/Singer-Songwriter
Puerto Rico (1950-
)
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