New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Sony
Music Latin partners with Tiger Turn Productions on the feature music documentary FANDANGO AT THE WALL. From executive producers
Quincy Jones, Andrew Young,
Carlos Santana, producers Kabir Sehgal and Doug Davis, and director Varda Bar-Kar, FANDANGO AT THE WALL follows Multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy Award winner Arturo O'Farrill, Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra founder; and Kabir Sehgal, New York Times bestselling author and Multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy award winning producer; as they prepare to record a live album at the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
FANDANGO AT THE WALL stars son jarocho legends Patricio Hidalgo, Ramón Gutiérrez, Wendy Cao Romero, Tacho Utrera, Fernando Guadarrama, Andrés Vega, Martha Vega. It includes special appearances by
Regina Carter, Multi-Grammy nominee and MacArthur Foundation Fellow;
Douglas Brinkley, CNN Historian; Mandy Gonzalez, who performs in Broadway's Hamilton; The Villalobos Brothers; Rahim AlHaj, Grammy nominee; and Sahba Motallebi.
"When I first learned about this film, I knew we had to be part of it. We're excited to partner with the production team and to share this powerful story with the world," said
Ruben Levya, Senior Vice President at Sony
Music Latin, leading artist services and premium content.
"The film explores the roots of Latin music and, in particular, Afro-Mexican music known as son jarocho. It is both timely and timeless, as it looks at the issue of immigration between the United States and Mexico. We're thrilled to partner with Sony
Music Latin, which has long been the vanguard of creative content throughout the Americas," said Kabir Sehgal, a producer of the film.
"Jorge Francisco Castillo and the musicians of the Fandango Fronterizo have found a way to defy physical reality. They turned a symbol of division -- the border wall -- into a medium for expressing love and community. The elegance and gentleness of this activism has dealt a serious blow to the cruelty that has shaped border politics, here at the San Diego/Tijuana border and which resonates at borders throughout the planet. The film captures the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's visit to the Fronterizo and the resulting visit by our new found familia to New York City. Along the way we discover the things that define us, the values that we all share. We are truly a global family and our film delivers that message," said Arturo O'Farrill, founder of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Artist
Director of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance.
FANDANGO ON THE WALL is inspired by the annual music festival called "Fandango Fronterizo," which unites people in son jarocho's song and dance on both sides of the Tijuana-San
Diego border. Before recording, Fandango Fronterizo organizer,
Jorge Francisco Castillo, took O'Farrill and Sehgal on an inspiring journey of Veracruz, Mexico, where son jarocho, the 300-hundred-year-old folk music called combining indigenous, Spanish, and African traditions originated. As they travel to the remotest regions of the Veracruz coast, they meet legendary son jarocho musicians and artisans and recruit them for the upcoming festival. Their travels culminate at the annual border celebration, promoting peace, and celebrating unity. The film introduces the beautiful music of the region through intimate storytelling and captivating concert footage and serves as a powerful reminder of music's ability to bridge cultural barriers.
"I've been captivated by the spirit of Mexico's vibrant son jarocho music community throughout the magical journey of making FANDANGO AT THE WALL. I love making and watching music films, and I've long admired and appreciated the works that Sony
Music Latin has brought to life," said Varda Bar-Kar, director of the film.
FANDANGO AT THE WALL was produced in partnership with the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance (ALJA) and funded in part by the Ford Foundation/Just Films. ALJA is an arts organization that promotes Afro Latin jazz through a comprehensive array of performance and education programs. In addition to producing live music events throughout New York City as well as Arturo O'Farrill's longstanding residency at the famed jazz club Birdland, ALJA maintains a world-class collection of Latin jazz musical scores and recordings. ALJA also produces three renowned education programs, which can be viewed at afrolatinjazz.org.
