Buena Vista Social Club in 35mm

Added to the National Film Registry in 2020.

Both a time capsule of the tense relations between Cuba and the United States and a stirring showcase of a regional music scene, Wim Wenders’s Oscar-nominated documentary about the popular danzón music of the Caribbean island country was met with universal acclaim upon its release, leading to increased international recognition for musicians like Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, and Rubén González. Wenders’s close friend Ry Cooder, a multi-instrumental American musician, helped gather the eponymous ensemble that would tour to Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall in New York, marking for some the first time these artists were able to travel to the United States.