CHAVELA

Showings

Ped Mall -Scene 1 Tue, Oct 30, 2018 6:00 PM
Event Info
Dialogue:followed by post screening discussion
Series Info
Series:Bijou Film Forum
Film Info
Rating:Not Rated
Runtime:93 minutes
Director:Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi
Year Released:2017
Production Country:Mexico
Spain
US

Description

Part of Bijou Film Board's Film Forum series.
FREE for UI students (present student ID at box office) and $6.50 for the general public.

Film followed by post screening discussion.

"A powerful film that will leave your heart ravenous and your mind full of ideas, like the best of Chavela's songs."
- Diario La Estrella

"The raspy passion of Chavela's singing connects the romantic fatalism of Mexican folk and pop music to the soulful understanding of gay life that defines filmmakers such as Almodovar." - Out Magazine

"The film marvels with her...we hear her on record, from in her youth, and in cabaret and concert appearances from late in her life. Every note has majesty." - Village Voice

Chavela is the captivating look at the unconventional life of beloved performer Chavela Vargas, whose passionate renditions of Mexican popular music and triumphant return to the stage late in life brought her international fame. Born in Costa Rica in 1919, Chavela Vargas ran away to Mexico City as a teenager to sing in the streets. By the 1950s, she became a household name in her adopted country, delivering her performances with a raw passion and unique voice. Just as influential were her cultural contributions; Chavela was a bold, rebellious, sexual pioneer who was known for having many female lovers at a time when being out in Mexico was dangerous. Chavela centers around a 1991 interview - the singer's first public appearance after 15 hard years lost to alcoholism and heartbreak. In the final years of her life, Chavela openly comes out as a lesbian and rises into her momentous third act, becoming a muse to filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, earning a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, and selling out perfromances at prestigious concert halls around the world.