Preceded by short:Pepino Mango Nance (Gillian Goslinga, Bann Roy, U.S., 1997): A short, personal musical composed from the songs of women vendors who illegally sell food on the streets of New York City. (10 mins, B&W, 16mm (correction: 3/4" video), Permission Documentary Educational Resources)(Lagrimas Negras). Is sugar really the sweetest Cuban export? Or is it the rumba, the guaracha, and the cha-cha-cha? Cuban popular music, or son, has aficionados worldwide, and this documentary shows why. It's part road movie about a group of five musicians-La Vieja Trova Santiaguera-touring Europe, and part slice-of-life back home as these working-class philosophers talk about life, love, and Carlos Marx. The "baby" of the group is 62, the oldest (the one with the groovy dance routine) is 84. The music is distilled "black tears" (lagrimas negras), the music of blacks and mulattos, descendants of Cuba's former slaves and colonists. Seamlessly blending Spanish danzon melody and African rhythm and chant, these performers of the son are on a mission of enlightenment to a capitalist world. Somebody's got this embargo thing all wrong. It may be illegal to sell medicine to Cuba-yet they are sending medicine to us.-Miguel Pendás, San Francisco Int'l Film Festival '97