Playing Lecuona, a documentary exploring the life of one of the greatest Cuban composers of all time, premiered on September 5, during the prestigious Montreal World Film Festival, Canada.
Starring three of the most important Latin jazz pianists in the world – Chucho Valdés, Michel Camilo and Gonzalo Rubalcaba – the film also features a genuine constellation of stars such as Ana Belén, Omara Portuondo, Raimundo Amador and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.
Pavel Giroud and Juanma Villar’s ambitious production was shot on location in Havana and Matanzas (Cuba), Miami and New York (the United States) Sevilla and Málaga (Andalusia), and La Laguna and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (the Canary Islands).
A sneak preview of the film was shown during the Miami International Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival, both of which take place in the United States.
Speaking exclusively with OnCuba, Giroud who is creating a buzz with the premier of this film – almost two years in the making – noted that the documentary includes archive material and original music which is “neither biographical, nor chronological, so the challenge was to organically incorporate it into our narrative. There’s more musical than visual archive material, but I’m sure that what you (the public) will see and hear, will have hardly ever been seen or heard before.”
Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963) is the most famous Cuban composer in the world, not only given his great volume of works, but also their quality. The documentary pays tribute to the legendary musician while exploring particular and largely unknown aspects of the career and life of a man who enriched Cuba’s musical heritage like few others.
The feature-length documentary is an international co-production led by Insularia Films (the Canary Islands) in collaboration with La Zanfoña Producciones (Andalusia) and Igolai Producciones (Colombia).
The project has also received support from the ICAA IBERMEDIA program (Ministry of Culture of Spain), the government of the Canary Island’s, Andalusia’s Canal Sur, TV Pública Canaria, the SGAE Foundation, Tenerife Tourism and La Laguna Town Council, among other organizations.
Grupo Planeta was recently granted the exclusive international distribution rights to the film, while worldwide distribution of the soundtrack will be managed by Sony Music International, based in New York.
Speaking to OnCuba a few months ago, Pavel – contracted to direct the project given his extensive experience filming musicians, in particular pianists – noted that he soon made the film his own; imprinting his mark as a true music-lover on the work.
Pavel described his sense of joy at being able to premier the documentary in the only Class A film festival in North America. The event is one of only a dozen in top-ranking global film festivals – including Cannes, Berlin, Venice or San Sebastian – recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (IFFPA).
