- Post date
- 28 Dec 2018
- Caption
- In the late 1990s, two aspiring filmmakers, but consummate storytellers in their own right: María León and Laura Sterling took on the very ambitious task of producing, not one, but two documentaries examining the Rock en Español culture. These works in progress were: a documentary on LÁ’s Pastilla and their rise to what we all thought was going to be worldwide crossover stardom. The other documentary, “Rocanrol” was to be a broad US & Latin American account of rock en español as an emerging cultural force. Regretfully, a myriad of financial problems in an era where filming and editing were very expensive processes derailed the completion of either documentaries.
But long before the filmmakers reached an impasse in their projects, the expectation was high. So they put together an advance documentary showing AND concert with some Alternativo heavyweights (the term Latin Alternative had not been coined yet): Zurdok (Monterrey, Mx), El Manjar de los Dioses (Puerto Rico), Volumen Cero (Miami) and Pastilla and Cábula reppin’ for LÁ. It was a pretty nifty show. 1st full disclosure: I was asked by the documentarians to lend them a hand as a stage manager…y en esos días como stage manager, fui muy buen catador de chelas gratis. Anyhow!
The only extant segments from these two documentaries were the trailers. The Pastilla and the “Rocanrol” trailers found their way to YouTube (2nd disclosure: I uploaded the Rocanrol trailer from a VHS copy that somehow landed in my possession years ago.)
While it would have been great that these documentaries had been completed, even these few minutes of footage give a glimpse of the vibrancy and the newness of “Rock en Español” in the last years of the XX century. Lastly, as someone how finally sorta figured out how to trim a huge project into a modest but completed piece of work —that would be my dissertation— I now only have my utmost admiration for María and Laura for even envisioning to document and chronicle the effervescent, chaotic, promising, but always financially broke AF era. So, check outs these videos in this post and in the story! •
What do you remember most about this time? •
Which were your favorite bands of the era?
- Location
- Avalon Hollywood
- Type
- flyer
- View on Instagram
- https://www.instagram.com/p/Br9qFuuhDgT/