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, 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)....
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.
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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.
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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- )
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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