The rousing musical documentary Soy Cubana, which had its international premiere this week at the Sheffield Doc Fest, evolved out of a short film of the same name made by Jeremy Ungar and Ivaylo Getov in 2016.
The short came about after producer Robin Ungar had been on a trip to Cuba and had heard the all-female a cappella group Vocal Vidas singing in a chapel. “She took a video on her cell phone and when she was back in Los Angeles, she showed [it to] us,” Jeremy Ungar remembers. The reaction among all three of them was: “there is definitely something special here.”
The filmmakers travelled to Cuba. The first night they were there, they took the women from the group out to dinner, without cameras. They describe this as the “make or break” evening when they would discover if the film was going to work. To their relief, they realised that the women were vivacious, “larger than life” and very good company.
“I think we had a moment when Ivaylo and I looked at each other and went ‘oh, we’ve really lucked out,’” Ungar remembers their excitement when they realised just how compelling the women would be on screen. “They turned out to be fascinating people, very giving, willing subjects.”
In the new feature, the directors are again filming Vocal Vidas, this time as the group members travel to perform in the US at a time when relations between Cuba and Uncle Sam were turning much more frosty now that Trump was in power.
This was never intended as a political documentary. It is about the women and the music, not about Castro’s legacy or Trump’s attitude toward Cuba. Nonetheless, the film does reveal the tough living conditions endured by the women. They may sing beautifully but it hasn’t made them rich. They perform for tips. Money is tight. Not that they complain, but it’s clear that they struggle to support themselves and their families. They live in Santiago de Cuba, a city famous for its mix of many music styles. They’re brilliant performers whose different singing styles complement each other perfectly but they’re not regarded as stars or celebrities.
“It was very important for us to give a window into the life of an artist in a country where it is possible to be a very working-class artist,” notes Getov. The Vocal Vidas, he adds, “are subsistence musicians, making art on a day to day basis.”
When the women watched the documentary for the first time, Anita, the leader of the group, was surprised to see herself and her colleagues so foregrounded on screen. She said to the producer: “they only make this kind of documentary about famous people.”
The feature premiered earlier this year at SXSW. That provided the filmmakers with the opportunity to get the women to perform a 45-minute concert on a rooftop in their home town, beamed to Texas and shown alongside the film.
“We had the Vidas perform remotely and we directed from afar,” Ungar explains.
The two directors have known each other for many years. They met as teenagers when they were fellow students at Palisades Charter High School in LA and have been firm friends ever since. They went to separate universities and their artistic careers have gone in slightly different directions but, as they put it, “periodically we come together and collaborate.” Ungar has made dramatic movies like 2018’s Ride, starring Bella Thorne, while Getov has worked as a media artist, specialising in technical direction, interaction design and software development.
Twenty years ago, when Wim Wenders and Ry Cooder came to Cuba to make The Buena Vista Social Club, the Cuban old-timers featured in the documentary went on to have hit albums and became unlikely pop stars. Might the same happen with Vocal Vidas?
“As documentarians, it was very important for us not to try to influence their careers too strongly or anything like that,” Ungar says. “We try to be very hands off.” However, now that the film is over, he agrees that opportunity is knocking for the Cuban singers. Their mini-set about “love and the power of music” during SXSW was reviewed in the New York Times, suggesting there is clearly enthusiasm for their work.
“The idea of an album from the film is definitely something that we are very, very drawn to and are exploring. For the Vidas in their own right, already just from the few festivals we’ve played, we’ve gotten them to go on a lot of Cuban radio and television and have got them a new level of exposure which we are really thrilled about for them,” Ungar says of how the world may be opening up for Santiago de Cuba’s finest all female singing combo.
