In this case, the tale comes in documentary form. Entitled “Chavela,” it’s received a 92 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 94 percent rating from audiences on the popular site. The screenings, at noon both days at The Neon movie theater in downtown Dayton, will be followed by a Q&A with Kyi, who served as co-producer/director.
MEET CHAVELA
The film centers around the life of singer Chavela Vargas, known both for her heart-wrenching and emotional singing and for her controversial lifestyle.
Born in Costa Rica, Chavela lived in Mexico as a child and died there in 2012 at the age of 93. Revealing interviews shot in 1991 by Kyi’s co-director, Catherine Gund, are the heart of the documentary. Other highlights include footage of Chavela’s throaty singing and interviews with those who knew, loved and admired her.
The singer first made news by trading the traditional hoop skirts and jewelry worn by the ranchera singers of her day for pants and for “singing like a man.” She was well known for her drinking and came out publicly as a lesbian when she was 81 years old. (Those with whom she was enamored ranged from artist Frida Kahlo to actress Ava Gardner.)
Although severe alcoholism eventually put a stop to her career, Chavela made a comeback in the early 1990s, becoming famous throughout the world. At 83, she had a New York City Carnegie Hall debut.
“There was something about her people adored regardless of the fact that she was incorrigible and her own worst enemy, ” says Kyi . “She was a difficult woman but people still loved her and forgave her, probably because she was wildly talented but also because she was broken. But we all carry wounds. Who doesn’t carry pain throughout their lives?”
Kyi has traveled the world with the film — to Spain, Mexico and Sweden as well as throughout the United States.
“Our audiences have been so diverse and the responses have been so unanimous,” says Kyi. “People in every country have come up to me crying because they were so moved.”
She admits she and her film partner were nervous about premiering the film in Mexico. “Chavela was such a beloved Mexican icon, and neither of us is Mexican. But the people there were so grateful and thanked us for making the film.”
Kyi believes Chavela’s story is inspiring to all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons “whether they are queer or women or people of color or immigrants, runaways, artists or those struggling with any kind of addiction. She was a member of all of those communities. We all love the story of an underdog who triumphs and Chavela is the ultimate underdog. She went from sleeping in the gutter to singing at Carnegie Hall and winning a lifetime Grammy achievement award as well as a Latin Grammy.”
DAYTON DAYS
Kyi, who grew up in Dayton View and Jefferson Twp., attended Westwood, Gardendale and Gettysburg Elementary public schools and then set her sights on The Miami Valley School, a private college-prep institution.
“I’m a smart cookie and I know what I want and am tenacious about it and willing to work hard,” she explains. “I made the call and found out what I needed to do to get in there. I got a lot of scholarship money because my family didn’t have a lot of money. My mother (Ramona Wilson of Trotwood) was always amazing, supportive and empowering.”
Kyi calls her Miami Valley education “totally transformative.” She took her first film-making class at the school and made her first “crazy short film.” After high school Kyi headed for Sarah Lawrence College in New York. “I’m a very independent person and what attracted me about Sarah Lawrence was that you could create your own curriculum,” she says. “I thought I wanted to do my own thing.”
But it wasn’t a good fit. Kyi discovered that too much freedom required too much self-discipline and that she felt like a fish out of water surrounded by wealthy classmates. A trip to the school’s career counseling office resulted in a job In New York with William Sorokin, an Academy-Award winning sound engineer. “I worked on his film and loved it and I got to do and learn a little about everything — from research to sound,” Kyi recalls. “I fell in love with the process. Film brings together so many different abilities in one place.”
She began to consider film-making as a possible career and after working in a variety of jobs in New York’s independent film scene — associate producer, production, distribution — she enrolled at New York University’s prestigious film school. “I used the school to make a film that won a couple of small awards and used that to get foundation and arts money,” Kyi says. A story she wrote, produced and directed called “Land Where My Fathers Died” co-starred Isaiah Washington, who went on to star in “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Kyi earned a directing slot in 1992 from the American Film Institution conservatory and later began working in television, helping launch a number of cable programs.
TEAMING UP WITH KATHERINE GUNN
During those television years, Kai met and worked with director/producer Katherine Gunn, an activist involved with the AIDS Act-Up movement who founded Aubin Pictures in 1996. The two had always talked about doing a project together. “In 2014 she asked me to come to a brainstorming session to figure out the subject for her next film,” Kyi says. “It turned out she’d had footage of Chavela she had been sitting on for 20 years.”
While on vacation in Mexico City in the winter of 1992, Gunn had met a group of women who worshipped Chavela and played music with her. “At the time Chavela was 71 and had just gotten sober,” Kyi says. “Katherine filmed two full performances and had one sit-down interview with Chavela and also filmed a conversation with a group of young gay women. That footage became the starting point of our film.”
Kyi, who never met Chavela in person, says she would have been a hard person to love. “She didn’t let people get close enough to hurt her,” Kyi says. “Once your mother rejects you, it’s hard to open yourself up. She spent her life making sure people didn’t get close enough to wound her again.”
Kai says the message of the film is to stay true to yourself. “Here is a woman who fought tooth and nail to be authentic and it paid off,” she says. “She was never a great singer — her voice was rough, raw, cracked. Her power was her ability to transmit powerful emotions and move people to tears. Like all good interpreters, she knew how to pick songs that resonated. Our goal was to give Chavela a platform to tell her story. What I want people to take away from this story is that anything is possible. It’s never too late.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Screening of the documentary, "Chavela" with producer/director Daresha Kyi
WHEN: Noon, Saturday, Jan. 27 and Sunday, Jan. 28
WHERE: The Neon movie theater, 130 E. Fifth St., Dayton. (Free parking across the street)
TICKETS: $7.50 each
MORE INFO: www.chavelavargasfilm.com
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