Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the recording of the landmark Cuban album “Buena Vista Social Club,” Cuban-American director Hugo Perez is set to premiere his latest feature documentary Omara on the life of Afro-Cuban singer and cultural icon Omara Portuondo in the Sonic Cinema section at the 12th edition of DOC NYC, taking place in-person and online from November 11-18, 2021. Notably, Perez will also have a second title in its world premiere at this year’s festival, the documentary Once Upon a Time in Uganda, co-directed with Cathryne Czubek.
An intimate portrait of one of Cuba’s most adored national treasures produced by Dana Kuznetzkoff and Frida Torresblanco, Omara offers unprecedented access to the legendary “Bride of Feeling,” often described as Cuba’s own Billie Holiday, to tell the story of Omara’s illustrious, seven decades-long career for the first time. Although Wim Wenders acclaimed and popular documentary Buena Vista Social Club beautifully captured the moment when Omara Portuondo was “rediscovered” by the world, her story goes much deeper. If you’ve heard the music of Buena Vista Social Club, then you’ve heard the unforgettable voice of Omara.
At 90, Cuba’s legendary diva has been a driving force in Afro-Cuban music for over half a century. In the face of racism, misogyny, revolution and political controversies, Omara has used her music to connect with fans around the world in profound and sometimes unexpected ways, transcending borders while celebrating the soul of her beloved Cuba. In 2019, Omara was awarded a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Latin American and world music.
Following Omara to Mexico City, Tokyo, New York, and Havana and featuring interviews with such world-renowned musicians as Diego El Cigala, Roberto Fonseca, and Arturo O’Farrill as a springboard to chronicle her life story, audiences are brought along through the circumstances of her birth to an aristocratic Spanish mother and Black baseball player father (Bartolo Portuondo) at a moment when that meant complete social ruin, to becoming a dancer at age 17 at the world-famous cabaret Tropicana. By her mid 20s, Omara was one of Cuba’s most famous young stars as part of the all-female Cuarteto d’Aida, touring extensively and opening for Nat King Cole.
Over the next several decades, she became a trailblazing single mother and advocate for Afro-Cuban women, already an icon before ever joining the Buena Vista Social Club and becoming synonymous with that worldwide sensation. As the great Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes has noted: “With or without Buena Vista, Omara is Omara.”
With intimate, unprecedented access to Omara Portuondo, audiences are invited to dive into her music and her life, and to explore how this Cuban girl-next-door came to resonate with so many people in so many disparate countries and cultures around the world.
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