Red Gringo: American Pop Culture and Cold War in Latin America.

(Gringo rojo)
Miguel Angel Vidaurre | Documentary, Musical

2016 | 68 minutes | Chile

Reminiscent of Searching for Sugarman, the film follows Dean Reed, a North American singer who became a pop idol during the ʼ50s and ʼ60s in Chile and the Americas.

Synopsis

Reminiscent of Searching for Sugarman, director Miguel Ángel Vidaurre’s self-described “pop memory exercise” follows North American singer Dean Reed’s surprising and unlikely political transformation after learning of the brutality and repression of U.S.-supported regimes in South America. Born in Lakewood, Colorado, Reed attempted to conquer the American music industry with his voice and charisma. His songs found modest success in the U.S. but became massive hits in Latin America. In 1962, with hopes of cashing in on his international popularity, Reed tours South America, where he undergoes a political awakening that earned him the nickname “The Red Elvis.” After being forced into exile, Reed settled in East Germany where he continued his career until his mysterious death in 1986. Making magnificent use of never seen old photographs, interviews, concert footage, and other unpublished material, Red Gringo sheds light on what was really happening in Latin America during the Cold War.

Reviews

"★★★ A fascinating tribute to an idiosyncratic artist, this is recommended." — P. Hall, Video Librarian

"Red Gringo recounts Reed's transformation from teen idol to political activist, crosscutting among a jumbled mélange of concert footage, newsreel clips, and interviews." — Dave Segal, The Stranger

"It is a document that every Chilean should see." — Joblar, Candilejas

"Vidaurre turns almost exclusively to the wealth of archival material surrounding his subject to tell this story...The result is a fascinating look back at one of the United States' most peculiar 20th century pop phenomena." — Andrew S. Vargas, Remezcla

"Using old photos, interviews, and previously unreleased footage, [Vidaurre] constructs a story of this unlikely radical whose left-wing philosophy earned him the nickname "Red Gringo." Not only does Vidaurre delve into Reed's unusual life, he also captures the brutality, oppression, and poverty of his homeland during the Cold War." — Janice Headley, KEXP

"A novel work that manages to maintain itself in the outskirts of any radical judgement of the history of our country and doesn't lose sight of this unknown singer for many contemporaries but places him as one of the many small heroes that dare to raise his voice, without being a direct part of the issue. Recommended. " —Wladimyr Valdivia, El Otro Cine

Citation
Main credits

Vidaurre, Miguel Ángel (film director)
Obando, Paulina (film producer)
Dintrans, Pablo (narrator)

Other credits

Cinematography, Vicente Mayo, Tomás Yovane; editor, Paulina Obando.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
cold war, communism, pop culture, injustice, human rights, oppression, violence, military dictatorship, U.S., Chile, Pinochet, 60s, 70s, Miguel Angel Vidaurre, Dean Reed, protest song, communism, anti-americanism, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,international relations, global relations, global studies, international studies, international affairs, intercontinental relations, intercontinental studies, foreign studies, foreign relations, national relations, national studies, cross-continental studies, cross-continental relations,history, context, narrative, past, chronicle, lore, annals, historic, personal history, archive, record, saga, biography, memoir, study,authority, authoritarianism, dictatorship, military regime, military government, fascism, repression, oppression, political oppression, political repression, far right, far right wing, modern fascism,sociology, anthropology, psychology, sociological, sociological perspectives, conflict theory, human conflicts, sociological thinking,conflict perspective, topics in sociology, sociology topics, sociology studies, social studies, people and cultures, human relations, human relationships, cultural studies, culture studies ,music, tune, melody, hymn, harmony, popular music, rock music, latin music, latinx music, latino music, spanish music, modern music, folk music, soul music, ibero-american music, latin american music, celtic music, flamenco, spanish classical music, classical spanish music, musicals, film musicals, movie musicals, musical films, spanish pop, latin pop, latin pop music, spanish pop music,political science, micropolitics, macropolitics, political theory, political education, political movements, political thinking, political criticism, poly sci, polysci, political sci, political sciences, political history, history of politics, political systems,south america, south american countries, countries in south america, argentina, bolivia, brazil, chile, colombia, ecuador, guyana, paraguay, peru, suriname, uruguay, venezuela, south american politics, south american culture, south american cuisine, south american education, south america in media, south american languages, south america history,biography, autobiography, biopic, memoir, life history, bio, biographer, biographical, personal account, personal history, diary, personal narrative, sketch, profile, personal letters, letters, journal, personal record,latin america,red gringo,Reds,chile,dean reed,punk latin america,south america,black in latin america,democracy latin america,Latin American Studies,the red and the white,pbs latin america,communism,elvis,socialism,sugarman,gender history latin america,red,latin,tomato red,searching for sugarman,walking sugarman,red grngo,red trurtle,Latin movies,gingo rojo,Latin America dictatorships,red tent,challenges in latin america,pragda,"Black in Latin America",women guerrillas latin america,Masque of the red death,effects of great depression on latin america,latin american films,blood tea and red string,Red Famine,latin american,Red Firecracker Green Firecracker,red turtle,latin america politics,raise the red lantern,THIS IS ELVIS,last king of scotland,latin america environment,red riding 1974,elvis presley,the cold war latin america,colonial latin america,red house,dean reid,red sun,la la land,the red balloon,mao zedong,quemada,Tacita Dean,angels in america,migration latin america,the big red one,art latin america,music,voting in latin america,lucky,latin america socialism,waiting for sugarman,gringo,hispanic films,latin american history,red detatchment,loui reed,the red elvis,music punk,red sorghum,united red army,The red gringo,family and latin america,planets,looking for sugarman,Lou Reed,the reds,60s,john reed,oliver reed,slavery latin america,"latin films",Rote Elvis,red amnesia; Cold War, Communism, Pop Culture, International Politics, Authoritative government, Music, Performing Arts, Injustice, Human Rights, Ibero American Modern History, Oppression, Violence, Military Dictatorship, South America, Latin America, U.S., Chile, Pinochet, Biography, Bio-Political, Biopic, 60s, 70s, Miguel Angel Vidaurre, Dean Reed; "Red Gringo: American Pop Culture and Cold War in Latin America."; Pragda
Clips
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Festivals

Seattle International Film Festival - Ibero American Competition
Valladolid International Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Miguel Angel Vidaurre

NATIONALITY: Chile

YEAR: 2016

GENRE: Documentary, Musical

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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