Frida is a 2002 Miramax/Ventanarosa biographical film which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. It stars Salma Hayek in her Academy Award nominated portrayal as Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, Diego Rivera.

The movie was adapted by Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas and Edward Norton (uncredited) from the book Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. It was directed by Julie Taymor. It won Oscars for Best Makeup and Best Original Music Score (recipient: Elliot Goldenthal).

Plot[link]

Frida begins with the traumatic accident Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) suffered at the age of 18 when a car trolley collided with a bus she was riding. She is impaled by a metal pole and the injuries she sustained plague her for the rest of her life. To help her through convalescence, her father brings her a canvas upon which to start painting. Throughout the film, a scene starts as a painting, then slowly dissolves into a live-action scene with actors.

Frida also details the artist's dysfunctional relationship with the muralist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina). When Rivera proposes to Kahlo, she tells him she expects from him loyalty if not fidelity. Diego's appraisal of her painting ability is one of the reasons that she continues to paint. Throughout the marriage, Rivera cheats on her with a wide array of women, while the bisexual Kahlo takes on male and female lovers, including in one case having an affair with the same woman as Rivera.

The two travel to New York City so that he may paint the mural Man at the Crossroads at the Rockefeller Center. While in the United States, Kahlo suffers a miscarriage, and her mother dies in Mexico. Rivera refuses to compromise his communist vision of the work to the needs of the patron, Nelson Rockefeller (Edward Norton); as a result, the mural is destroyed. The pair return to Mexico, with Rivera the more reluctant of the two.

Kahlo's sister Cristina moves in with the two at their San Ángel studio home to work as Rivera's assistant. Soon afterward, Kahlo discovers that Rivera is having an affair with her sister. She leaves him, and subsequently sinks into alcoholism. The couple reunite when he asks her to welcome and house Leon Trotsky (Geoffrey Rush), who has been granted political asylum in Mexico. She and Trotsky begin an affair, which forces the married Trotsky to leave the safety of his Coyoacán home.

Kahlo leaves for Paris after Diego realizes she was unfaithful to him with Trotsky. When she returns to Mexico, he asks for a divorce. Soon afterwards, Trotsky is murdered in Mexico City. Rivera is temporarily a suspect, and Kahlo is incarcerated in his place when he is not found. Rivera helps get her released.

Kahlo has her toes removed when they become gangrenous. Rivera asks her to remarry him, and she agrees. Her health continues to worsen, including the amputation of a leg, and she ultimately dies after finally having a solo exhibition of her paintings in Mexico.

Cast[link]

• Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo
• Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera
• Geoffrey Rush as Leon Trotsky
• Mía Maestro as Cristina Kahlo
• Ashley Judd as Tina Modotti
• Antonio Banderas as David Alfaro Siqueiros
• Edward Norton as Nelson Rockefeller
• Amelia Zapata as Maid
• Alejandro Usigli as Professor
• Diego Luna as Alejandro Gonzalez Arias
• Fermín Martínez as Painter on Bus
• Loló Navarro as Nanny
• Lucia Bravo as Auditorium Model
• Margarita Sanz as Natalia Trotsky
• Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Matilde Kahlo
• Roger Rees as Guillermo Kahlo
• Valeria Golino as Lupe Marín
• Omar Rodriguez as André Breton
• Felipe Fulop as Jean Van Heijenoort
• Saffron Burrows as Gracie
• Chavela Vargas as La Pelona
• Lila Downs as Singer

Allusions[link]

• The passengers on the trolley Kahlo rides and that crashes with a bus are based on subjects in the painter's 1929 portrait, The Bus.
• The Brothers Quay-created stop motion animation sequence depicting the initial stages of Kahlo's recovery at the hospital after the trolley accident are inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.
• The gown Valeria Golino wears at Kahlo's 1953 Mexican solo art exhibition is a replica of the dress her character Lupe Marín wore in Rivera's 1938 portrait of her.

Production[link]

Development[link]

The film version of Frida Kahlo's life was initially championed by Nancy Hardin, a former book editor and Hollywood-based literary agent, turned early "female studio executive", who, in the mid-1980s wished to "make the transition to independent producing."^[1] Learning of Hayden Herrara's biography of Kahlo, Hardin saw Kahlo's life as very contemporary, her "story... an emblematic tale for women torn between marriage and career."^[1] Optioning the book in 1988, Hardin "tried to sell it as an epic love story in the tradition of Out of Africa, attracting tentative interest from actresses such as Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange, but rejection from the film studios. As Kahlo's art gained prominence, however ("[i]n May 1990 one of Kahlo's self-portraits sold at Sotheby's for $1.5 million, the highest price ever paid at auction for a Latin American painting"^[1]), Madonna "announced her plans to star in a film based on Frida's life", and Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions reportedly "envisioned a joint biography of Rivera and Kahlo."^[1]

In the spring of 1991, director Luis Valdez began production on a New Line feature about Frida Kahlo starring Laura San Giacomo in the lead. San Giacomo's casting was objected due to her non-Hispanic ethnicity, and New Line bowed to the protests, and left the then-titled Frida and Diego in August 1992 citing finances.^[1] Hardin's project found itself swamped by similar ones:

When I first tried to sell the project ... there was no interest because nobody had heard of Frida. A few years later, I heard the exact opposite – that there were too many Frida projects in development, and nobody wanted mine.^[1]

Valdez was contacted early on by the – then unknown in the US – Salma Hayek, who sent "her [promo] reel to the director and phoned his office", but was ultimately told she was then too young for the role.^[2] By 1993 Valdez had retitled the film The Two Fridas with San Giacomo and Ofelia Medina both playing the portraitist.^[3] Raúl Juliá was cast as Diego Rivera, but his death further delayed the movie. At the same time, Hardin approached HBO, and with "rising young development executive and producer" Lizz Speed (a former assistant to Sherry Lansing) intended to make a TVM, hopeful that Brian Gibson (director of "What's Love Got to Do With It, the story of Tina Turner" and The Josephine Baker Story) would direct.^[1] Casting difficulties proved insurmountable, but Speed joined Hardin in advocating the project, and after four years in development, the two took the project from HBO to Trimark and producer Jay Polstein (with assistant Darlene Caamaño). At Trimark, Salma Hayek became interested in the role, having "been fascinated by Kahlo's work from the time she was 13 or 14" – although not immediately a fan:

Hayek was so set on acting the role that she sought out Dolores Olmedo Patino, longtime-lover of Diego Rivera, and (after his death) administrator to the rights of Frida and Rivera's art, which Rivera had "willed ... to the Mexican people", bequeath[ing] the trust to Olmedo.^[2] Salma Hayek personally secured access to Kahlo's paintings from her, and began to assemble a supporting cast, approaching Alfred Molina for the role of Rivera in 1998. According to Molina, "She turned up backstage [of the Broadway play 'Art'] rather sheepishly and asked if I would like to play Diego". Molina went on to gain 35 pounds to play Rivera.^[4]

When producer Polstein left Trimark, however, the production faltered again, and Hayek approached Harvey Weinstein and Miramax, and the company purchased the film from Trimark; Julie Taymor came onto the project as Director. Meanwhile, in August 2000 it was announced that Jennifer Lopez would star in Valdez's take on the story, The Two Fridas, by then being produced by American Zoetrope.^[5] Nonetheless, it was Hayek and Miramax who began production in Spring, 2001 on what was to become simply titled Frida.^[2]

Release[link]

On August 29, 2002, the film made its world premiere opening the Venice International Film Festival. Frida's American premiere was at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles on October 14 of that year. It had its Mexican premiere on November 8, 2002 at Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts.

Honors[link]

American Film Institute

Movies of the Year 2002, Official Selection

Rationale:

Frida is a movie about art that is a work of art in itself. The film's unique visual language takes us into an artist's head and reminds us that art is best enjoyed when it moves, breathes and is painted on a giant canvas, as only the movies can provide.

National Board of Review

• Top Ten Films

See also[link]

• Frida (soundtrack)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Archives of the Official site
• Frida at the Internet Movie Database
• Frida at Box Office Mojo
• Frida at Rotten Tomatoes

Lila Downs
June 2007. Luminato - Masters of World Music
Background information
Birth name	Ana Lila Downs Sánchez
Born	(1968-09-19) September 19, 1968 (age 43)
Origin	Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico
Genres	World music
Instruments	Voice, guitar
Years active	1992–present
Website	liladowns.com

Ana Lila Downs Sánchez best known as Lila Downs (born in September 19, 1968) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporates indigenous mexican influences and has recorded songs in indigenous languages such as mixtec, zapotec, maya, nahuatl and p'urhépecha.

Her debut album, La Sandunga, was released in 1999 and she achieved international success in 2001 with the album Border who emerged in the music scene of Mexico and Latin America in the early 2000s (decade) decade. Lila began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with traditional music, Latin and American influences with her own original twist on dancing. Downs is a native spanish speaker and also speaks fluent english and mixtec.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Lila Downs was born September 19, 1968 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico, the daughter of Anita Sanchez, a Mixtec cabaret singer and Allen Downs, a British-American professor of art and cinematographer from Minnesota. From an early age Lila showed interest in music; at the age of eight she began singing rancheras and other traditional Mexican songs.^[3] She began her professional career singing with mariachis. At fourteen she moved to the United States with her parents. She studied voice in Los Angeles and learned the English language, which her father helped her to perfect. When she was 16, her father died and afterward she decided to return to her native Tlaxiaco with her mother.

One day while she was working in a store in the Mixtec mountains a man came in to ask her to translate his son's death certificate. She read that he had drowned trying to cross the border into the United States. This deeply affected her and has continued to influence her work. She talked about this in an NPR interview about her 2001 release entitled Border.^[4]

Although today Downs is proud of her origins there was a time when she felt shame regarding her Native American roots. "I was embarrassed to have Indian blood. I was embarrassed that my mother spoke her language in public." This lead her on a path to find herself, which included dropping out of college, dying her hair blonde and following the band, The Grateful Dead. After some time Downs found herself back in Oaxaca working at her mother's auto parts store where she met her future husband and musical collaborator, Paul Cohen.^[5]

Downs studied Anthropology at the University of Minnesota and voice in New York. Later she attended the Institute of Science and Arts of Oaxaca to complete her studies.

At 25 after completing academic and music studies Lila decided to return to Tlaxiaco. Paul Cohen always encouraged her musical venture and joined a group percussion called Yodoyuxi's Cadets. Because Paul Cohen had business in the United States she began to live in both Minnesota and Oaxaca.^[6]

During her stay in Minnesota, Downs formed a group called La Trova Serrana which achieved great popularity among the Latin public within the United States, singing songs about the Zapotec and values and culture. Upon her return to Mexico she started singing in bars, restaurants and clubs in the City of Oaxaca, Philadelphia and California in United States, always with the support of saxophonist U.S. Paul Cohen getting much positive critical review, and led to her decision to undertake an extensive tour of Mexico.^[7]

Career[link]

1994-1996: First albums[link]

In 1994 Lila Downs made her first album recorded independently entitled Ofrenda the songs included in this material is a collection of items traditionals by Oaxaca and mexicans. This album also contains songs written by singer from the beginning with lyrics sung in Spanish mixtec and zapotec are languages native of Oaxaca, the material was carried out independently and with the support of the Oaxacan Cultures Institute.^[8] Because this album was not only promoted commercial success in LP and cassette, never released a version in CD.

In 1996 Downs recorded at the album sound in a live session of a renowned cafe-bar of the City of Oaxaca, on this record Lila was accompanied by a set of well-known musicians who supported and helped in its interpretation of traditional themes as well as country music and parts of jazz.^[9] Lila Downs With this work became known in different parts of the Republic of Mexico and was their first album was released in CD but had a big impact and was directly promoted in presentations, published only a small number of copies so that this material is now discontinued and although not physically part of the official discography of Lila Downs is available at digital format.

1997-1999: La Sandunga[link]

In 1997 Lila Downs made her second label material of study prior to his international career, the performance of this material as a model before items to be included in later albums such as La Sandunga, Tree of Life and Border.^[10] It made an extensive compilation of items of repertoire traditional but like Mexicanwith its albums previous boom had no commercial or spread massively so this disc is currently out of print.

It was not until 1999 Downs sign with the label Narada Productions have achieved commercial success and made known to internationally with the album La Sandunga (recorded at year earlier), this material came to the fore within the Mexican music and this drive was one of the first traditional music that merged sounds and modern rhythms as jazz, blues and bolero. The album is played in Spanish and mixtec and was produced by Lila Downs and Paul Cohen with the support of Xquenda Cultural Association.^[11] Because of this work Lila participated in the sound track of the mexican film Green Stones and achieved great popularity in countries such as Mexico United States, Spain, France, England and Germany selling over 500,000 units worldwide.

1999-2000: Tree of Life/Yutu Tata[link]

Lila Downs in Oaxaca in 2006

Lila's preparing next album, Tree of Life, was released in 2000, with this album the fame of Downs continue to spread to other markets and countries such as England, Switzerland, Canada and especially the United States. This work found Downs turning to her indigenous past and the album features pre-Hispanic sounds and instruments. Several of the songs on the album are sung in native mexican languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec and Nahuatl. In October 2000 she began a two month tour called the Tree of Life/Árbol de la vida which included concerts in Latin America, Europe and the USA. The tour began in Mexico and ended in Spain.

2001-2003: Border/La Linea[link]

Border, released by EMI music in 2001, was the first album by Downs to feature songs sung in english language. The album was released simultaneously in the United States and Mexico. With this album Downs merged sounds from different genres such as traditional folk music, hip hop, rock and chilena. It included fifteen songs, eleven of which are in Spanish, three in english and one in Mayan. The album received generally good reviews and placed seventh in "Top charts" of world music.^[12] It also stirred up controversy due to its frank discussion of immigration, Native American marginalization and the Acteal massacre.^[13] Downs was criticized by various organizations, especially politicians and the church.^[14]

The album's first single was released in Mexico, "Mi corazón me recuerda" a poem by Chiapas poet Jaime Sabines set to music achieved moderate success on the Mexican music charts. In Spain the song "La Llorona" was released and in France the song "Corazoncito Tirano" was released as a single. In the United States the song "Medley: Pastures of Plenty/This Land Is Your Land/Land" was released.^[15] The latter incorporates two Woody Guthrie songs, "Pastures of Plenty" and "This Land is Your Land" as well as original lyrics by Downs, "Land".

2004-2006: Una Sangre/One Blood[link]

One Blood, one of Lila Downs' most successful albums, was released in April 2004 simultaneously in the United States, Spain, and Mexico. The lyrics on this album are about migration, discrimination and the case of Mexican human rights defender Digna Ochoa.^[16] In addition to traditional songs such as "La Bamba," "Viborita," and "La Cucaracha," the album includes genres such as son jarocho, jazz, rock and folk. This album contains thirteen tracks of which three are in English, one in Triqui, one in Purepecha and eight in Spanish. Lyrics were authored by Lila Downs, Paul Cohen, Celso Duarte and Jose Martí. Lila Downs received in 2005 the Grammy Latino in the category of "Best Album of World Music" for this album^[17] and reached the top of the charts in United States, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany and France.^[18]

2006-2008: La Cantina, entre copa y copa…[link]

Lila Downs took approximately one and a half to prepare this project came to light on April 2006. This CD draws on Mexican ranchero songs and runs merging sounds as pop, rock, northern, cumbia and hip-hop. This CD contains fifteen tracks of which twelve are the three traditional Mexican repertoire are authored by Lila Downs and includes a version in English of "La cumbia del mole" song that gave fame to Downs and to date is the letter of the artist.^[19]

The most successful theme of this album was "La cumbia del mole", this song refers to the preparation of this mexican dish and tradition by Oaxaca, this simple managed to position itself among the top of the charts in Mexico, United States, Canada and United Kingdom.^[20]

Downs in 2007 published a CD with more success in Spanish to date, containing songs from their previous album La Sandunga, Tree of Life, Border/The Line, One Blood and La Cantina It was entitled simply The Very Best of Lila Downs; was accompanied with a DVD containing thirteen tracks recorded live at a concert in Madrid, Spain.^[21]

2008-2009: Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra[link]

Two years after the release of La Cantina, Lila launched Ojo de Culebra during the month of September 2008 in Europe, North America, Australia and Latin America. The album reached sixth place in sales in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain and several Latin American countries. The first single is titled "Ojo de Culebra" that was attended by singer spanish singer La Mari by group of flamenco Chambao. The song is a merger of rock cumbia and flamenco with some influences of reggae.^[22] This song was the first places in the charts of world music in several countries^[23] The second single was "Perro Negro" a merger of rock with ska that was not so international presence as its predecessor, this song with the participation of Rubén Albarrán singer of the mexican rock band Café Tacuba.^[24] "Little man" (released in the U.S. alone) and "Justice" would become the next two singles, the latter with the participation of the spanish singer Enrique Bunbury also participated in this album Raul Midon, Gilberto Gutierrez and Mercedes Sosa.

The single "Black magic woman" achieved moderate success in Europe, United States and Canada, later pitched for the British market the single "Silent Thunder" which was well accepted by the public. In October 2009 placed the imprint of Lila Downs on the outskirts of the birthplace in his hometown Tlaxiaco, Mexico, also was awarded the keys the city for its work of media of Mixtec and as one of the greatest personalities who were born there.^[25]

2010-present: Lila Downs y la Misteriosa, Pecados y Milagros[link]

"Lila Downs y la Misteriosa en Paris - Live à FIP" is the second live album by Downs, released on April 13, 2010 in Spain and France, the album was recorded in 2009 in Radio Francia estudio 105 in Paris, France. The album was released in May 2010 in the United States and in July in most other countries. It received positive feedback from critics. Lila Downs y la Misteriosa en Paris was released in Mexico with an edited version of the live concert on DVD and was number one in sales of Gender World Music for the music chain Mixup for three consecutive weeks.^[26] Although receiving little promotion the album has received moderate success on the Mexican charts. In a survey of the best albums of 2010 conducted by the Mexican television network Channel 22, this album was ranked number one.^[27]

Pecados y Milagros (Sins and Miracles) is the seventh studio album by mexican singer-songwriter Lila Downs, released on October 18, 2011.^[28] The album cover was released on september 14, 2011.^[29]

The album debuted at number fifty two on the Billboard 200 becoming her fourth-highest peak on the chart. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums Chart and stayed there for over 3 consecutive weeks. This album has sold over 60.000 copies in the US and over 290.000 copies worldwide.^[30][31] The album was recorded in the Mexico City, and New York. Downs describes the album musically as having "a strong rock side" along with "traditional" and "Latino" songs. Celso Duarte is one of several collaborators to appear on the album, featuring on the first single "Palomo del comalito".

Other collaborations are said to include songs with rappers Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, Celso Piña and Totó la Momposina. Downs also announced that she is preparing an international tour, the Sins and Miracles Tour, which is expected to start in Mexico.^[32]

Audience members at a February 18, 2012 concert at New York City El Museo del Barrio^[33] were informed that the concert was being recorded by HBO.^[34]

Musical tours[link]

2005-2006: One Blood Tour[link]

Due to the success of One Blood and Border, between 2001 and 2004 was the One Blood Tour with Lila performed 30 international presentations.^[35] This tour was presented on three continents in countries having an impact in Europe and Asia as Philippines, Japan, China, Egypt and Afghanistan^[36] where Downs caused a sensation because it was the first time I ran these countries taking his music, which was well received by the public. In May 2007, Downs published a DVD collection as a document of that tour in a concert in Oaxaca and Mexico City; this DVD contained thirteen live tracks and a documentary as well as special features like interviews, short films by Allen Downs (Lila’s father) and videos.

2008-2009: Shake Away Tour[link]

Lila Downs performing during a concert in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2010.

In September 2008 started Ojo de Culebra World Tour, that took her to visit different countries on four continents, this being the most successful Mexican, who with his One Blood Tour visited 30 locations.^[37] In Latin America, Mexico was the country with the highest number of submissions (21 in total), the tour officially ended on October 30, 2009 giving a free concert in the Zocalo of Mexico City,^[38] followed by Colombia and Costa Rica, with three each.

Although not part of the tour, Lila Downs appeared in the Live Earth in Germany, where she played three songs, and in late 2008 had a share in the Harmony Festival that is held in the California in United States.^[39]

2010: Black Magic Woman Tour[link]

In March 2010, Lila Downs announced a world tour Black Magic Woman Tour which began in Buenos Aires, Argentina with three sold out shows.^[40] This tour was introduced in several countries in America Asia and Europe in several of which broke attendance records. The tour officially ended on November 17, 2010 in Square Dance by Oaxaca City where she had an audience of approximately seven thousand people, that within the framework of book fair in Oaxaca.^[41]

Acting[link]

Downs has had small parts in such films as Frida,Fados and Hasta el último trago corazón; the latter is a documentary on Mexican music involving various exponents of the genre. Currently, Downs is working on the composition and arrangements for the musical Como agua para chocolate, based on the book by Laura Esquivel, which will premiere at the Public Theater of New York and Broadway in late 2011 or early 2012. She will participate in the filming of the U.S. film "Mariachi Gringo" directed by Tom Gustafson , where she will work alongside Mexican actresses Adriana Barraza, Martha Higareda and canadian actor Shawn Ashmore, the film is expected to be released in early 2012.

Soundtracks[link]

In 2001, Downs was invited to participate in the soundtrack of the Mexican film Piedras Verdes where she performed "Cancion mixteca", in 2002 she participated in the soundtrack for the film Frida singing the song Burn It Blue which was nominated in the 75th edition of the Academy Awards in the category of Best original music which was the winner.^[42] Downs has also participated in other soundtracks for films such as Real Women Have Curves and Tortilla Soup. In the film by Carlos Saura, Fados (2007), she sings an unforgettable version of Foi na Travessa da Palha in Portuguese.^[43]

Personal life[link]

Since the beginning of her career she has been involved with Paul Cohen who is as a partner and her artistic director. There has been much speculation in the media about the couple's personal life and that the couple could not have children. She talked about some of these aspects of her life in NPR Interviews: Lila Downs Woos Fans with 'Shake Away'^[44] and Lila Downs' Cross-Border Musical Influences.^[45]

In June 2010, Downs announced on their web site that, after several years of trying to be parents, they had adopted a child, Benito Dxuladi.^[46] They currently reside in Coyoacán in Mexico City and Oaxaca although most of the time they spend traveling.

Social activism[link]

Downs has been a Social Activist throughout her entire career because she works to maintain a cultural identity in the eye of social distress. For example, she sings with passion, and admiration for her home in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her music draws out many socially significant issues, such as the mistreatment and misunderstanding of indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, by celebrating their Mixtec heritage through song.^[47] Her albums are socially significant, especially her album, One Blood, or Una Sangre, which includes songs such as La Digificada, which is a song about Dina Ochoa's assassination. She was a social activist, and Lila featured her story on her album One Blood.^[48] When asked if she is a politician, Lila expresses that she does not want to be a politician because she is not interested in power, instead she wants to support and change society through music.^[49] On Friday, October 9, 2009 Downs, along with actress Salma Hayek represented to Mexico in a broadcast worldwide campaign for the foundation One Drop, to preserve water, where they performed the founder of Cirque du Soleil, Shakira U2 Vice President Al Gore and other world-class personalities.

Contributions[link]

• In 2003 she was invited by the Twelve Girls Band concert in Shanghai, China where she sang in English and French.
• In 2005 collaborated with the galician band Luar Na Lubre on the album Saudade in the song "Domingo Ferreiro" performed in galician.
• In 2008 on the album No Tiene Fin of Los Cojolites in the song "La Herlinda" and has an interest in the topic "El Pescador" of the disk Sin Fecha de Caducidad by the Mexican singer Celso Piña.
• In 2009 participated in the basque singer's album Kepa Junkera performs "Haurtxo Polita" in euskera. Also for the album Cantora, Vol. 2 of the singer Mercedes Sosa, with the theme of "Razon de Vivir" That same year also works with the theme "El Llorar" for Mexican musician Ernesto Anaya for his album Huapangueando.
• In 2010 in the musical production of the Mexican singer-songwriter Benny Ibarra called The March of the Living has involvement with him singing a duet song "Calaveras", second single of this production.

Awards and recognition[link]

Throughout her career Downs has received several awards; they include the Latin Grammy, Academy Awards, Lunas del Auditorio, among others. She has recently unveiled her mark on the Walk of Fame located in the outskirts of Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City for her career. Some of her most successful songs include: "Tengo miedo de quererte", "Estrella oscura", "La línea", "La llorona", "La cumbia del mole" y "Ojo de culebra".

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Ofrenda (1994)
• Azulao: En vivo con Lila Downs (1996)
• La Sandunga (Narada 1999)
• Tree of Life (Yutu tata) (Narada 2000)
• Border (La Línea) (Narada 2001)
• One Blood(Una sangre) (Narada 2004)
• La Cantina (Narada 2006)
• The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs [CD] (EMI 2008)
• Shake Away (Ojo de Culebra) (Manhattan Records 2008)
• Lila Downs y La Misteriosa en Paris – Live a FIP [CD (Harmonia Mundi-Global Village Europe/USA; various labels worldwide), (CD + DVD EMI Mexico) (2010)]
• Pecados y Milagros (2011)

DVD[link]

• Lotería Cantada (2006)
• The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs [CD+DVD] (EMI 2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

	Mexico portal
	Biography portal
	Oaxaca portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lila Downs

• Official website
• Lila Downs at Allmusic
• Lila Downs Music Videos on CompulsiveTraveler.tv
• Lila Downs: beyond the border by Mary Armstrong, Sing Out! vol 45#4 – Winter 2002
• "Wise Latina", an interview with Guernica Magazine's Joel Whitney
• Lila Downs biography and discography at World Music Central

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Psihomodo Pop is a Croatian pop punk group. The band was formed in 1983 in Zagreb and has since achieved a somewhat cult following across the area of former Yugoslavia.

Formed from the remnants of a band called Neron, Psihomodo Pop initially gained fame across former Yugoslavia in 1988 after the release of their debut album Godina zmaja (The Year of the Dragon). Nema nje was released as a single from the album and became a success due to the music video for the song being played by MTV. This gave Psihomodo Pop the distinction as the first Yugoslavian music act to have their music played on a major music television network.

In 1990 the band released their second studio album Sexy magazin and set out on a relatively successful three month long tour across the former Soviet Union. That same year, for concerts in Ljubljana and Zagreb, the band was chosen as the opening act for The Ramones, a band that Psihomodo Pop cited as both a musical act they admire the most as well as their biggest influence.

Late 1990 saw Psihomodo Pop abandon their plans for an extended tour in support of their new album due to the outbreak of hostilities leading up to the Croatian War of Independence. The band joined Hrvatski Band Aid (Croatian Band Aid), a project composed of many of Croatia's top music acts, to help create the patriotic song Moja Domovina (My Homeland) condemning the war.

After the war and the breakup of Yugoslavia, the band continued their success in Croatia by releasing several commercially and critically acclaimed albums such as Srebrne svinje (Silver Pigs), which spawned the Porin award winning single Starfucker. In 2000, the band released Debakl (Debacle) which won another Porin, this time for Best Rock Album of the Year.

The band's eighth and the most recent studio album is Jeee! Jeee! Jeee!, released in 2009.

See also[link]

• Punk in Yugoslavia
• SFR Yugoslav pop and rock scene
• Rock za Hrvatsku

External links[link]

• Official Website

Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, and is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various musical styles and techniques in original and inventive ways. He is also a film-music composer, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2002 for his score to the motion picture Frida, directed by his long-time partner Julie Taymor.

Life and career[link]

Goldenthal was born on May 2, 1954, as the youngest son of a Jewish housepainter father and a Catholic seamstress mother in Brooklyn, New York City, where he was influenced from an early age by music from all cultures and genres. Both pairs of Goldenthal's grandparents emigrated to the United States from Bucharest and Iași, Romania.^[1] Goldenthal lived in a multi-cultural part of town, and this is reflected in his works.^[2] He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn where, at the age of 14, he had his very first ballet Variations on Early Glimpses performed; he continued to display his eclectic musical range, performing with rock bands in the seventies.^{[citation needed]} He then studied music full time at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with composer John Corigliano (whom he greatly admired), to earn his Bachelor of Music degree (1977) and Master of Music (1979) in musical composition.^{[3][4][not in citation given]}

He lives in New York City "happily unmarried", as he once put it,^[5] with his partner Julie Taymor, whom he met in 1980 through a mutual acquaintance, who told him "I know a person whose work is just as grotesque as yours"; they have an office/apartment where they both live and work.^[6]

Goldenthal has written works for concert hall, theater, dance and film. His work includes music for films such as Alien 3, Michael Collins, Batman Forever, Heat and the Academy Award-winning score for Julie Taymor's "Frida", a movie in which Goldenthal had a small acting part as a "Newsreel Reporter". Incidentally he also had a small part in the stage show "Juan Darièn" as a "Circus Barker / Streetsinger".^[7] See below for links to individual score pages; some with audio samples.

The Tony-Award winning carnival mass Juan Darièn (1988/'96) and The Green Bird (1999), based on a story by Carlo Gozzi, are a few of the composer's theater works.

In 2006, Goldenthal completed his original three-act opera with Taymor entitled Grendel an adaptation of the John Gardner novel which told the story of Beowulf from the monster's point of view. It had its world premiere in early June 2006 at the Los Angeles Opera, the role of Grendel performed by Eric Owens, with an audience containing the likes of John Williams and Emmy Rossum; the opus was added to the Los Angeles Opera's permanent repertoire and earned Goldenthal a nomination in April 2007 for the Pulitzer Prize for Music.^[8][9]

In 2008 Goldenthal reunited with Michael Mann to score 1930s gangster movie Public Enemies and in 2009 he scored another Julie Taymor Shakespeare adaptation, The Tempest.^[10]

He cites acclaimed Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu as an influence and someone he styles his own career on; Goldenthal has said that the lines between traditional concert music and orchestral film score have become more blurred which is the way he thinks it should be.^[11] He has also collaborated four times with Irish director Neil Jordan, scoring movies like Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles and In Dreams.

Style[link]

Elliot Goldenthal has been called by film-music collectors the "thinking man's composer" and a generally more cerebral choice for film makers and fans of film music alike.^[12][13] He is known for his often intense experimentation, intelligent nuances and willingness to try new and unconventional techniques and processes (For two good examples of this, see Alien 3 (soundtrack) and Titus (soundtrack)). This experimental approach has led him to score movies in almost every genre from horror to action to Shakespeare adaptations;^[14] the only type of film he has not yet scored is comedy, but at the same time he has composed comedic motifs for several films such as Demolition Man and the more colorful Batman sequels, which are considered tongue-in-cheek types of movies in the first place. It is this openness to try his hand at anything which has gained him a lot of respect in the music and film communities and with fans. He is not as well known, or popular, as other film composers such as the "household names" John Williams or Hans Zimmer but he is widely appreciated among film score fans for his sheer musical abilities and distinctive style; a style, which though artistically appreciated among film music enthusiasts, some have said can be too experimental or inaccessible to the mainstream listener because of Goldenthals passion for defying the norms of contemporary classical music.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Atonal and brutal in his action music, sometimes in underscore and tends to use very fast French horn bending tones/whining; although Goldenthal himself has said that he doesn't "hear" atonal and tonal, rather "...I don't have any differentiation in my head between tonal and atonal, I either hear melody or I hear sonority — I don't hear atonal or tonal so much."^[11]

Goldenthal often works with a team he assembled after the soundtrack for Drugstore Cowboy: Teese Gohl as supervising producer, Robert Ehlai as orchestrator, Joel Iwataki as sound engineer and Richard Martinez as electronic music producer.^[19] According to Martinez, "a lot of composers want to focus on writing their music, and that's what [his] team allows Elliot to do."^[19]

At the website filmscoremonthly.com a former classmate of Goldenthals replied to a piece on the Sphere score from 1998 saying that when he and Elliot were both studying at the Manhattan School of Music in the '70s Elliot was already experimenting with unusual techniques and when studying trumpet once, Elliot asked him to "buzz into the wrong end of the mouthpiece and sing into it as well", he thought he was crazy but looking back after a decade or so of Goldenthals film and concert music he said that he "...was just way ahead of the rest of us."^[20]

Respected cultural historian and critic Piero Scaruffi found fit to mention Goldenthal in lists of honour and general overview of film music on his website,^[21] placing three of Goldenthal's theatre works in a "Brief history of music through its milestone compositions"^[22] and putting his score for "Drugstore Cowboy" at number 27 in a list of "Best musicals of all time".^[23]

Lists of works[link]

Film works[link]

• 1979 - Cocaine Cowboys
• 1980 - Blank Generation
• 1989 - Drugstore Cowboy
• 1989 - Pet Sematary
• 1991 - Grand Isle
• 1992 - Alien 3
• 1993 - Demolition Man
• 1993 - Golden Gate score
• 1994 - Interview with the Vampire (Oscar Nomination)
• 1994 - Cobb
• 1995 - Batman Forever
• 1995 - Heat
• 1996 - Michael Collins (Oscar Nomination)
• 1996 - A Time to Kill
• 1997 - The Butcher Boy
• 1997 - Batman & Robin (score not commercially released)
• 1998 - In Dreams score
• 1998 - Sphere score
• 1999 - Titus score - film directed by Julie Taymor
• 2001 - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within score
• 2002 - Frida (Oscar Winner) - film directed by Julie Taymor
• 2002 - The Good Thief score
• 2003 - S.W.A.T. score
• 2007 - Across the Universe soundtracks - film directed by Julie Taymor
• 2009 - Public Enemies
• 2010 - The Tempest - film directed by Julie Taymor

Concert music works[link]

• 1980 - Brass Quintet No. 1, Brass Quintet No. 2 (No. 2 has been recorded recently by Extension Ensemble, New York)
• 1988 - Pastime Variations
• 1990 - Shadow Play Scherzo
• 1996 - Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio (recorded in 1995, featuring Yo Yo Ma)

Theatre works[link]

• 1984 - Play, "The King Stag" (production of Carlo Gozzi's play by Andrei Serban)
• 1985 - Musical, "Liberty's Taken" (an original musical co-created with David Suehsdorf and Julie Taymor)
• 1986 - Musical, "The Transposed Heads" (adapted by Sidney Goldfarb and Julie Taymor from the novel by Thomas Mann)
• 1988 - Play (Commedia), "The Serpent Woman" (production of Carlo Gozzi's Commedia)
• 1988 - Musical, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" (off-Broadway, reworked and recorded for Broadway in 1996; Co-bookwriter, lyricist, arranger of the Latin text.)
• 1998 - Ballet, "Othello" (a ballet with choreography by Lar Lubovitch)
• 1999 - Musical "The Green Bird" (on Broadway production of production of Carlo Gozzi's work)
  Stage director: Julie Taymor
• 2006 - Opera, "Grendel" (opened June at Los Angeles Opera; not released on CD yet as of October 2009)
  Libretto: Julie Taymor and J D. McClatchy, after the novel Grendel by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf
  Stage director: Julie Taymor

Awards and nominations[link]

• (2007) Pulitzer Prize for Music in Music Nomination for his acclaimed "Grendel" opera
• (2004) Emmy Awards Nomination, "Great Performances: Dance in America" - Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Dramatic Underscore)
• (2004) ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards Win, "S.W.A.T." - Top Box Office Film Score
• (2003) World Soundtrack Awards 2003 Win, "Frida" - Best Original Soundtrack of the Year
• (2003) World Soundtrack Awards 2003 Win, "Frida" - Soundtrack Composer of the Year
• (2003) World Soundtrack Awards 2003 Nomination', "Burn It Blue" from "Frida" - Best Original Song Written for a Film
• (2002) Academy Awards Win, "Frida" - Best Original Score
• (2002) Academy Awards Nomination, "Frida", "Burn It Blue" - Best Original Song
• (2002) Golden Globes Win, "Frida" - Best Original Score
• (2002) World Soundtrack Awards 2002 Nomination, "The Dream Within" from "Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within" - Best Original Song Written for a Film
• (1999) CFCA awards Nomination, "The Butcher Boy" - Best Original Score
• (1998) ASCAP awards Win, "Batman & Robin" - Top Box Office Film Score
• (1998) Chicago Film Critics Awards Nomination, "The Butcher Boy" - Best Original Score
• (1998) Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 1998 Win, "The Butcher Boy" - Best Original Score
• (1997) Tony Awards Nomination, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" (Broadway Production) - Best Original Musical Score
• (1997) ASCAP awards Win, "A Time to Kill" - Top Box Office Film Score
• (1997) Grammy Nomination, "Defile and Lament" from "A Time to Kill"
• (1996) Academy Awards Nomination, "Michael Collins" - Best Original Score
• (1996) Golden Globe Nomination, "Michael Collins" - Best Original Score
• (1996) ASCAP awards Win, "Batman Forever" - Top Box Office Film Score
• (1995) Grammy Nomination, "Batman Forever" - Best Instrumental Composition
• (1995) ASCAP awards Win, "Interview with the Vampire" - Top Box Office Film Score
• (1995) Golden Globe Nomination, "Interview with the Vampire" - Best Original Score
• (1994) Academy Awards Nomination, "Interview with the Vampire" - Best Original Score
• (1994) ASCAP awards Win, "Demolition Man" - Top Box Office Film Score
• (1990) Edinburgh Festival Critics Choice Award Win, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" - Best Music
• (1990) American Academy of Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Award Win, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" - Best Music
• (1988) Obie Award Win, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" (Original Production) - Best Music

Among others including the Arturo Toscanini Award, the New Music for Young Ensembles composition prize, the Stephen Sondheim Award in Music Theater and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship.^[24]

Quotes[link]

Trailer music[link]

A number of Goldenthal's cues (as is common with a lot of composers) have been used for trailer music, below is a list of known uses up to 2004.^[26]

Interview with the Vampire (1994) was used in:

Copycat (1995) - Theatrical Trailer

Alien III (1992) was used in:

The Animatrix (2003) - Theatrical Trailer

The Matrix Reloaded (2003) - TV Trailer

The Matrix (1999) - Theatrical Trailer

The Matrix (1999) - TV Trailer

The Village (2004) - Theatrical Trailer

Batman Forever (1995) was used in:

Batman & Robin (1997) - Theatrical Trailer

Batman Forever (1995) - Theatrical Trailer

Demolition Man (1993) was used in:

Evolution (2001) - Internet Trailer

Men in Black (1997) - Theatrical Trailer

Men in Black II (2002) - Teaser Trailer

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) was used in:

The Manchurian Candidate (2004) - Teaser Trailer

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) - Teaser Trailer

Heat: (1995) was used in:

L.A. Confidential (1997) - TV Trailer

See also[link]

• Aaron Copland
• John Corigliano
• Tōru Takemitsu
• Julie Taymor
• Avant-garde
• Contemporary classical music
• Musique concrète
• Modernism (music)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Elliot Goldenthal at the Internet Movie Database
• Elliot Goldenthal at the Internet Broadway Dabatase
• Elliot Goldenthal at Rate Your Music
• Elliot Goldenthal discography at Discogs
• Elliot Goldenthal at Allmusic
• "A Website for the Composer"
• Elliot Goldenthal at Theoscarsite.com
• Elliot Goldenthal at Variety.com
• Elliot Goldenthal at Moviemusicuk.us
• An Interview with both Taymor and Goldenthal by the New York Times
• An indepth interview from 2003