BAMPFA from Home

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Audio Recording
Les Blank, Maureen Gosling, and Chris Strachwitz
Recorded at BAMPFA, July 15, 2012

Hear Les Blank, Maureen Gosling, and Chris Strachwitz speak about Chulas Fronteras and In Heaven There is No Beer.

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Swing along with some of the greats of Mexican American music in Les Blank’s two bouncy 1970s tributes to the vivacity of Chicano culture, Chulas fronteras and Del mero corazón, both even more vibrant now thanks to new 4K digital remasters. Inducted into the National Film Registry, 1976’s Chulas fronteras (Beautiful Borders) showcases some of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas–Mexico border, with legends such as Narciso Martínez, Flaco Jiménez, and Lydia Mendoza speaking on (and singing of) Tejano life, love, and passion. Released in 1979, Del mero corazón (Straight from the Heart) expands the map to California, capturing street murals and the burgeoning La Raza movement to underline the diversity of Chicano music and pride. Whether in big-city dance halls, border-town cantinas, packed community centers, or intimate family gatherings, Blank’s camera insightfully seeks out not only the stars on stage, but the “ordinary” people in the crowd, dancing and living along the “beautiful borders.”

—Jason Sanders