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BAKOSÓ: AFROBEATS OF CUBA

  • Tsai Auditorium @David Rockefeller for Latin American Studies, 1730 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA, 02138 United States (map)

Co-presenting film at Boston Latino International Film Festival

Documentary, 50 mins, Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, Cuba/USA, 2019

What does “Está Rico” by Marc Anthony, Will Smith & Bad Bunny have in common with “Made For Now” by Janet Jackson x Daddy Yankee? They both high-jacked AfroBeats and did not give the genre’s origin props. Bakosó is a film that does the opposite, following DJ Jigüe to his hometown of Santiago de Cuba to find inspiration from the new sounds. He finds Afrobeats has helped create a new genre called Bakosó, which itself is beautiful proof that the exchange between Cuba and Africa did not end with the Transatlantic slave trade. Through stunning visuals and a score created by the founders of the genre, the film shows the technology, culture and landscape that shape this African-Caribbean fusion –