Buena Vista Social ClubIn line with the stated goal of my course to learn more about Cuban culture and the influences on its development, I chose to focus my project on the 1998 documentary Buena Vista Social Club. Although this film focuses primarily on the reunion of a group of mostly older and forgotten artists to produce an album that reflects a bygone musical era in Cuba, there are several identifiable underlying issues that reveal a variety of ways where political events and social issues played a role in the isolation of these artists. Indeed, the film points out that many of these once-famous musicians were living in relative obscurity some 40 years after the Castro-led Cuban revolution. Many were now in their eighties and nineties when the film was made. Singer Ibrahim Ferrer shined shoes and sold lottery tickets to support his family. Others had long since stopped practicing their trade in order to continue supporting their families. What follows is my analysis of how this film provided me with valuable information not only about the disappearance of these special musicians, but also how that disappearance is a mere representation of a larger issue of change in Cuban culture since the '50. After the demise of the Buena Vista Social Club (and all social clubs in general) after the Revolution, I think it is important to understand the significance of the club in Cuban culture in the early 20th century. According to Gross (2008), in Cuba before the revolution, social clubs (known in Spanish as sociedades de color) were gathering places where poor, uneducated blacks and whites could meet to enjoy shared interests. To the extent that these groups were marginalized in society, clubs provided... middle of paper... for the world to benefit from the many unique facets of this "rich" culture. Works CitedBuena Vista Social Club. Dir. Wim Wenders. prod. Ry Cooder. Arte, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Kintop Pictures, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC), Channel Four Films. 1998.Chasteen, J. C. (2006). Born in blood and fire. (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Danzon. History of Cuban popular music: the Cuban son. August 16, 2009< http://www.danzon.com/eng/history/cuban-music.htm >Gross, Liza. “Racial Clubs See Resurgence in Cuba.” The Miami Herald. December 29, 2008. August 16, 2009Martinez, Rubén. “Buena Vista Social Club: The Movie.” Rev. of Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club. PBS: date unknown. >.