Music Island. The resistance is the title of the documentary feature film by director, producer and screenwriter Pao Fraga to premiere on April 27 at 7:00 pm in the Charles Chaplin theater in Havana.
It is a co-production of the independent brand Gavia and the state company Producciones Colibrí, based on five stories of Cuban musicians at different times in their careers, within an “industry” that increasingly tries to impose a different lifestyle on them. that they authentically sing to him, confirms Fraga to OnCuba.
The audiovisual reviews the stories of Pablo Menéndez, Tony Ávila, Zeney Alonso, Kike Rodríguez and Lele Cabezas.
Menéndez, director of Grupo Mezcla, born in the United States and Cuban by conviction, son of the legendary Bárbara Dane, has been a witness or protagonist of cultural milestones in the country, such as the legendary ICAIC Sound Experimentation Group.
The singer-songwriter Tony Ávila, with a degree in Philosophy and History, emigrated against the current: from Havana to Cárdenas, in Matanzas. From there he established himself as one of the most important singer-songwriters of recent times. He has never stopped being himself, something that both those close to him and the public reward with appreciation and admiration.
For their part, Zeney Alonso and Kike Rodríguez, members of the Toques del Río band, have been gaining acceptance in popular taste, while defending their own vision of Cuban music.
The extraordinarily talented sisters Wendy Oram and Alba Shand are part of several musical groups and together they make up Son Gálvez, from where they constantly create, in search of their own expression.
The story of singer-songwriter Lele Cabezas brings us closer to an artist who sacrifices part of his time creating music to work as an automotive mechanic.
Music Island. The resistance It has appreciations from the musicologist Jesús Gómez Cairo, director of the National Museum of Music and National Music Award 2018; the anthropologist Jesús Guanche, member of merit of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and Jon Illescas, sociologist, musician and author of the books The dictatorship of the video clip and toxic education.
The feature documentary ”will begin the international tour that we have been planning, but because its main target audience is in Cuba and the urgency of more analysis on the subject, it is an obligation for me to screen our film here, at least once a year. moment,” says Pao Fraga, a graduate in Audiovisual Communication from the University of the Arts of Cuba (ISA) and author of the documentaries Where are you going…, and In the museum, the music, in your dress, awarded in national and international events.
