Independent Lens : Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story (2004)

Genres - Music  |   Sub-Genres - Biography, Music History, Social History  |   Run Time - 60 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Ryan Shriver

Partially inspired by Wim Wenders' 1999 ode to Cubano music Buena Vista Social Club is Minnesota-based director John Whitehead's tribute to the legendary Cajun music outfit the Hackberry Ramblers in his 2003 documentary Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story. Quite possibly the oldest continuously performing band in the United States, the Louisiana-based Ramblers have been making music together since 1933, with a Grammy nomination and recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts amongst their many awards and citations. Featuring two of the band's founding members, ninetysomethings Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon, director Whitehead spent five years making the film as he followed the group from performance to performance, leading up to one of the group's most prosperous years in decades: 2003. Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story received its world premiere at the 2003 Saulieu Cajun & Zydeco Festival in Saulieu, France.

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Keywords

accordion, band [music group], Cajun, career-retrospective, fiddler, swing-music