Chavela (film)
| Chavela | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Catherine Gund Daresha Kyi |
| Produced by | Catherine Gund Daresha Kyi |
| Cinematography | Natalia Cuevas Catherine Gund Paula Gutiérrez Orio |
| Edited by | Carla Gutierrez |
| Music by | Gil Talmi |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Countries | Mexico Spain |
| Languages | English Spanish |
Chavela is a 2017 American documentary film, directed by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi.[1] The film is a portrait of Mexican singer and actress Chavela Vargas.[2] Vargas was known for her singing of boleros and behavior on and off the stage.[3] The film covers her identity as a singer and lesbian, something she did not publicly confirm until much later in her life.[3]
The film premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival on February 9, 2017, in the Panorama Dokumente program.[4] It was picked up for international distribution by Latido Films.[4]
The film was a GLAAD Media Award nominee for Outstanding Documentary at the 29th GLAAD Media Awards.[5] The film was screened at the 2017 Inside Out Film and Video Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary,[6] and at the 2018 Queer North Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice award for Best Women's Film.[7] The film also won a Pink Dragon Audience Award for the best film at the 2017 Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival.[8]
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 40 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Chavela pays affecting tribute to its subject with an absorbing documentary that outlines her remarkable life while effectively communicating the power and lingering impact of her art."[9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10]
Format
The soundtrack for the documentary contains mostly songs performed by Chavela Vargas.[11] The film contains archival interview footage recorded by Catherine Gund.[12] The film breaks from the previous mythification of Chavela Vargas as a unique artistic object.[13]
References
- ↑ "'Chavela': Film Review | Berlin 2017". The Hollywood Reporter, February 12, 2017.
- ↑ "Review: ‘Chavela’ Recalls the Life of the Ranchera Singer Chavela Vargas". The New York Times, October 3, 2017.
- 1 2 Kaufman, Judith S.; Powell, Tamara (2020-06-01). Queer Exoticism: Examining the Queer Exotic Within. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-5395-8.
- 1 2 "Daresha Kyi’s ‘Chavela’ Taken by Latido Films". Variety, February 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Netflix Tops GLAAD Media Awards Nominations". Broadcasting & Cable, January 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Rebels on Pointe takes best Canadian feature at Inside Out". Playback, June 6, 2017.
- ↑ "pINCO Triangle takes three Queer North awards". Sudbury Star, June 20, 2018.
- ↑ "Nagrade". 33. festival LGBT filma. Društvo ŠKUC. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ↑ "Chavela". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ↑ "Chavela". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ↑ www.imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6217664/soundtrack/. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Chavela". Chavela. Retrieved 2026-04-17.
- ↑ Mora, Sigrid Solano; Ching, Ruth Cristina Hernández (2019). "Chavela Vargas: su mitificación como personaje artístico y cultural". Repertorio Americano (in Spanish) (29): 302–311. doi:10.15359/ra.1-29.18. hdl:11056/20117. ISSN 2215-6143.
External links