VivirLatino

15 years after her death, Cuban music legend La Lupe (a.k.a. Lupe Yoli) is making her mainstream TV debut in a new documentary honoring her life and career called La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul:

Shot in New York City, Miami, La Habana and Puerto Rico, LA LUPE evokes two groundbreaking cultural periods through interviews and rare archival footage: pre-Revolutionary 1950s La Habana and the burgeoning Latin music scene in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. The film begins with La Lupe’s funeral in 1992—attended by fans, family and the whole of New York’s Latino music aristocracy—and follows her from poverty to celebrity and back again.

A long-time gay icon who was often described as the first performance artist, La Lupe was ahead of her time. In trying to discover who Lupe was, LA LUPE also provides a collective portrait of mid-20th-century Latin musical history.

La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul is airing this week on PBS’ Independent Lens program. Have a look at the PBS website to see when it will air in your area.

Via / PBS Independent Lens