Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Linda Ronstadt will be featured in a new music documentary coming out next month. Here is the official media release that just landed in my inbox...Robert Kinsler
Linda Ronstadt documentary 'Linda and the Mockingbirds' to be released digitally Oct. 20, 2020 from Shout! Factory
A TALE OF IMMIGRATION, FAMILY, AND MUSIC,
AN INSPIRING NEW DOCUMENTARY CAPTURES
LINDA RONSTADT’S
2019 TRIP TO MEXICO WITH LOS CENZONTLES,
A YOUNG MEXICAN-AMERICAN SONG AND DANCE TROUPE
Los Angeles, CA – Linda and the Mockingbirds, a beautiful new documentary capturing Linda Ronstadt’s 2019 journey to Mexico with a group of young students, will be released digitally on October 20 by Shout! Studios and PCH Films. From award-winning director and producer James Keach (Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me), who also produced the 2019 Linda Ronstadt documentary The Sound of My Voice, Linda and the Mockingbirds is the result of Ronstadt’s introducing Keach to Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy, for whom she has been a patron for 26 years. The film is available for pre-order now.
Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds) is a grassroots organization in the Bay Area of California committed to amplifying the roots of Mexican culture. Founded by Eugene Rodriguez, Los Cenzontles provides the local community with a family-friendly setting for traditional arts education and cultural events. With a record of 30 years of excellence, they have drawn supporters like Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Los Lobos.
Linda and the Mockingbirds chronicles a road trip with Ronstadt, musician Jackson Browne, and a tour bus full of young singers, dancers and instrumentalists to the small town of Banámichi in the Mexican state of Sonora, where Ronstadt’s grandfather grew up. There they meet up with their Mexican counterparts, the folkloric dance troupe Grupo de Danza Xunutzi, and put on soulful performances showcasing Mexican culture.
“Maybe it’s genetic memory, but I feel very at home when I go to Mexico,” says Ronstadt in the film. “When I’m in Mexico, I have a better understanding of who I am, and who my family is, you know? I feel great pride in it, and I always have. I hope it makes the kids feel like that, that they have more of an understanding of where they came from, the culture they came from, who they are, why they’re important, why they should never be rendered invisible or without their dignity.”
Ronstadt’s passion for her Mexican heritage is evident, and there is sheer joy and appreciation in her face as she watches the concert, praising the young talent. The performances are riveting, with children and young adults singing and dancing in traditional costumes, musicians performing on guitars, violin, and traditional instruments, the explosive rhythm of the zapateado dancers’ shoes striking the ground. A young performer dedicates a sorrowful song about lonely orphan in a palm grove to Ronstadt, which she explains to Browne is a song she learned from her grandfather when she was a child.
The film also takes on the subject of immigration. Through the personal stories of the Los
Cenzontles instructors and students, the heartbreak of family separations, racism, and border politics are illustrated in emotional interviews.
Sitting next to a border wall covered in barbed wire, Los Cenzontles member Lucina Rodriguez tells the story of how she immigrated to the US illegally as a 10 year old child with her mother and brothers in order to be reunited with her father, later becoming a US citizen. Her family’s treacherous crossing inspired Browne and Eugene Rodriguez to write "The Dreamer," a song that asks: "A dónde van los sueños?" — "Where do the dreams go?"
Reflecting on the bus trip back to the Arizona border, Ronstadt reflects on the families that have been recently separated there. Thinking of her 2 year old grandniece who was on the bus with her, she muses, “What if we got to the border, and they took Annabelle away and put her in a cage? If they took her away from her mother who loves her, and her father who loves her and wants to protect her, and just lost her in the system? We’d just be beside ourselves.”
Linda and the Mockingbirds artfully blends the narratives of celebrating the music and culture of Mexico and the powerful subject of immigration.
“The reason we play music is to celebrate our sorrows and our joys,” says Ronstadt. “To try and help make sense of something that oppresses you, or celebrate something that lifts you up.”
A treasured musical icon, Ronstadt is the recipient of multiple GRAMMY® Awards, American Music Awards, and Academy of Country Music awards, as well an ALMA Award and an Emmy. In her prolific recording career she released three hit Spanish-language albums, including Canciones De Mi Padre ("Songs of My Father”), introducing the music of her childhood to new generations and fans worldwide.
“For nearly 30 years, Linda Ronstadt has opened doors for our music and youth arts program,” says Rodriguez. “To us she is a mentor, teacher, inspiration — and family. In Linda and the Mockingbirds, James Keach tells our story with depth and dignity. We hope it builds bridges across cultural divides. We hope it makes people sing, smile, reflect, and want to dance.”
About PCH Films
PCH Films, based in Los Angeles, California, is an award-winning multimedia and post-production company co-founded by acclaimed filmmaker James Keach in 2007. The company develops, produces, and finances feature films and documentaries in addition to offering a wide range of post-production services. The company’s goal is to continue to create intelligent, humanistic entertainment across multiple platforms that appeals to a broad audience. PCH Films' releases include the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Glen Campbell...I’ll Be Me (received three GRAMMY Awards), Augie, David Crosby: Remember My Name, and Critics’ Choice Award-winning Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, which was one of the top-grossing documentaries of 2019. In fall 2020, PCH Films is releasing two films produced and directed by Keach: Turning Point, an extraordinary documentary that follows the quest for the first medication that could treat the underlying processes of Alzheimer’s disease, and Linda and the Mockingbirds, featuring music superstars Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and young musicians from Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy.
Learn more about PCH Films by visiting www.pchfilms.com and follow it on Twitter and Facebook at @pchfilms.
About Shout! Studios
Shout! Studios is the filmed entertainment production and distribution arm of Shout! Factory, specializing in all aspects of distribution, including theatrical, VOD, digital and broadcast. Reflecting Shout! Factory’s ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence, Shout! Studios champions and supports like-minded filmmakers and creators at the forefront of pop culture, driving creative expression and diversity in independent storytelling. Shout! Studios finances, produces, acquires and distributes an eclectic slate of movies, award-winning animated features, specialty films and series from rising and established talent, filmmakers and producers.
Oh man, that sounds like a great documentary! Thanks for this.
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