Short Film: The Procession of the White Bandoneón (2014)
This is a film that I first made for a conference presentation at Columbia University in March 2014 and have since expanded into the version presented here. The conference was about music and memory and my paper discussed the ways in which memory is rendered a part of the present tense through the sensory experiences of music making that occur in and around neighborhood tango bars. The film, shot in 2012, traces an evening dedicated to the life of a local legend singer and bandoneon player, Ruben Juarez, who is remembered not only for his musical expertise but also for his dedication to bohemian late-night tango music culture. In his memory his friends and family rented a train and drove around the city from one neighborhood tango bar to the next, remembering him through anectdotes, images and songs. This film is an homage to Juarez, but also to the importance of bar culture and the informal music making that occurs in tango bars, and the way memories become located within these bars and remembered through them.