Pérez Prado the King of Cuban Mambo Returns to the Big Mexican Screen

October 25, 2022

Cuban musician Dámaso Pérez Prado, known as the King of Mambo, returns today to Mexican stages with the screening of the film El sueño de ayer, at the Morelia International Film Festival.

The film directed by Emilio Maillé and starring the singer of the Mexican rock band Café Tacvba, Rubén Albarrán, evokes the 1950s, while drawing a timeline to the present day through rhythms such as mambo, rumba, reggaeton, cumbia, among others.

According to the synopsis of the film, the picture tells the story of the interpreter from the largest of the Antilles, who returns to life three decades later to find the love of his life, Magdalena in the capital of the North American country.

'The problem is that he is dead, time is running out for him, nobody remembers him and in his head only confused memories of the past dwell', states the event's website, while highlighting the prolific career of the artist, who internationalized mambo from Mexican stages.

According to specialists and dancers, Pérez Prado made undeniable contributions to popular music, with a solid career backed by the use of his compositions in films such as Coqueta, Amor perdido, Aventuras and Las tres alegres comadres; La dolce vita, Kika, among others.

Likewise, he signed his name in the all-time hit lists with memorable pieces such as mambos numbers one, five, eight and nine, and the titles María Cristina, Mosaico cubano, Caliente y sabroso, Silbando mambo and the Exotic Suite of the Americas.

One of the virtues of Maillé's fiction resides in the opportunity to reconnect with the music of Pérez Prado (1917-1989), who stood out on stage for his scenic projection and talent.

Until October 29, the twentieth edition of the Morelia Festival takes place, a space that this year presents a collection of 95 films, including 59 short films, 15 documentary feature films, 11 Michoacan works and 10 fiction films.