David Garcia has never backed down from a challenge.
The New Mexico-based filmmaker has been working since December on chronicling the story of Albuquerque-based ensemble, Baracutanga.
“For 13 years, they’ve been moving the needle within music,” Garcia says. “They are in tune with the music and how it helps build a community.”
Garcia and his wife, Nikelle, run Halflife* Digital and will be making the trek with the seven-piece band to La Paz, Bolivia.
The filmmakers will join the band in its journey back home to Bolivia and capture the trip in a feature-length documentary to share with their fans and followers around the world. They are raising money via Kickstarter to help ease the costs.
“We’re trying to raise $10,000 and that’s really low in this industry,” Garcia says. “My last film was upwards of $100,000.”
Garcia says it will be a kinetic mix of D.A. Pennebaker’s “Don’t Look Back” and Wim Wenders’ “Buena Vista Social Club.”
“(The film) will capture a snapshot in time of this remarkable collective’s evolution,” Garcia says.
Baracutanga started 13 years ago as an informal assembly and has slowly, methodically cultivated a musical subculture and a loyal following that is more of a community than a traditional band-audience relationship.
After 13 years of playing in New Mexico and the Southwestern U.S., Baracutanga is finally realizing a dream and traveling as a group to Bolivia during Carnival, to reconnect with the band’s musical heritage and rediscover their sound.
At the helm of the band is Kilko Paz.
Paz says Carnaval is an important celebration in Bolivia, as it is also celebrated around the world.
He’s also ready to tell the story of the band and come back home for some shows and outreach.
“I’ve never done a film like this in my life,” Paz says. “We’re going to have fun. That’s the whole idea of this trip.”
The band will do some cultural exchange with students in Bolivia, who wouldn’t get the opportunity otherwise.
Paz says Baracutanga is a diverse group of musicians.
“We are green chile stew with a touch of Bolivian corn and Peruvian tortilla,” Paz says. “Music is like food and if you don’t mix things, you might miss things. We juxtapose different styles of music.”
Garcia says the project is very much a New Mexico project.
“We’ve been filming in New Mexico since December,” Garcia says. “It’s unique and many New Mexicans are above the line.”
After two weeks in Bolivia, Garcia and crew will continue filming in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos.
“We want the documentary to go on the festival circuit,” Garcia says. “It’s part in the rise of Albuquerque’s profile.”
