INTERVIEW: Influence of Santa Sabina’s Rita Guerrero captured in new documentary
Photo: Courtesy of Hola Mexico Film Festival / Provided with permission.
Arturo Díaz Santana’s new documentary, Rita, captures the life and legacy of one of the most famous musicians in Mexico’s recent history. Rita Guerrero, lead singer of Santa Sabina, was a rock artist who was well-respected by her peers and fans. She was committed to making progressive music and found much success, but her life was cut too short when she died in 2011 after a battle with breast cancer.
Rita will screen Thursday, June 6 at 9 p.m. at The Montalbán in Los Angeles as part of the Hola Mexico Film Festival. A special treat is that nine members of Santa Sabina will perform a concert after the screening. After that, Vampiro will perform a set with samples from the voice of Guerrero.
“She was a friend of mine,” Santana said in a recent phone interview about his inspiration to create Rita. “She was in love with one of my best friends. We were very young. Well, we were like 20, and my friend started playing in Santa Sabina. So they became close. … And then after her death, we decided to make a documentary about her, so a couple of years after she passed away, we began looking into her story. So we made the film. It took four years to complete the film, and now we are proudly presenting it with love to Rita and to the story of Mexican culture.”
Santana called Santa Sabina a legendary band that changed the rock ‘n’ roll landscape in Mexico City. They had a successful career in the 1980s and 1990s, constantly attracting new devotees.
“They were a very popular band,” he said. “It was not just important to Mexican music, but Mexican culture in general. So, yes, it’s very well known still, but I want people to know the [behind-the-scenes] story.”
Santana said it was not difficult to convince the other members of Santa Sabina to contribute to the documentary because it was important for everyone involved to continue the legacy of Guerrero’s music and influence.
“For some of them it was like a painful story because Rita’s death was so tragic,” Santana admitted. “It’s like a sad story for most of them. For example, for Rita’s mother, it was sad and hard for her to participate because it was her daughter, and it was a really tragic story for her. [But] they all participated.”
To structure the film, Santana decided to let Santa Sabina’s music be the conductor of how to tell Guerrero’s story. Since music was so important to the singer, the director felt it was only appropriate to have the soundtrack be a powerful driver of the plot.
The filmmaker also tried to tell the human side of Guerrero’s life, from politics to sickness. In the end, he wanted to portray the “complexity of her character,” as he put it.
What Santana is most excited for is having Santa Sabina together again for the Los Angeles concert. They performed a similar show recently in Mexico City, and the director knows it will be a historic night that honors the group’s 30th anniversary.
“That’s a super special, historical night because Santa Sabina does not play regularly,” he said. “They are now coming together because of the movie, because of the documentary, so I’m very happy about that. … They are playing because they are awesome musicians. They have their own personal projects, each one of them, and they are all amazing artists. You can’t miss it. It’s really historical, unique. You won’t be able to see something like that ever again. That’s a unique moment, so I’m so happy it’s going to happen. It’s already happened here in Mexico City, and it was an amazing night, really historical.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Rita, directed by Arturo Díaz Santana, will play the Hola Mexico Film Festival Thursday, June 6 at 9 p.m. at The Montalbán in Los Angeles. Members of Santa Sabina and Vampiro will offer live music after the screening. Click here for more information and tickets.
