Buena Vista Social Club is a 1999 documentary film directed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders. The film follows American guitarist and producer Ry Cooder as he travels to Havana, Cuba, to record an album with a group of legendary Cuban musicians. These musicians, many of whom were in their 90s, had been major figures in Cuban traditional music in the 1940s and 1950s but had fallen into obscurity after the Cuban Revolution.
Cooder assembled the group in Havana's Buena Vista neighborhood, which had been a thriving cultural center before the Revolution but had since fallen into disrepair. The musicians included guitarist and singer Compay Segundo, pianist Rubén González, singer Ibrahim Ferrer, and many others. The group recorded the album "Buena Vista Social Club" in just six days, with many of the songs recorded in a single take.
The film weaves together footage of the recording sessions, interviews with the musicians, and performances by the group in Amsterdam and New York City's Carnegie Hall. It also traces the musicians' personal stories, from their early careers to their struggles in the years following the Revolution.
Buena Vista Social Club was a critical and commercial success, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature and winning a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album. The film helped to revive interest in Cuban music and brought global recognition to the musicians featured in the film.