La Salsa Vive

Juan Carvajal / Colombia / 2025 / 101 min
La Salsa Vive La Salsa Vive La Salsa Vive La Salsa Vive
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  • South by Southwest Film Festival

  • Seattle International Film Festival

  • Macondo Award

    Best Documentary, Best Sound, Best Editing

  • Guadalajara International Film Festival

  • Vancouver International Film Festival

  • Palm Springs International Film Festival

  • New York Latino Film Festival

  • San Diego Latino Film Festival

Spanish Film Club
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Synopsis

Spanish with English subtitles

With Rubén Blades, Henry Fiol, Willie Rosario, Angel Lebron

Why will your students love La Salsa Vive? Because it isn’t just a music documentary; it’s a vibrant testament to how a culture stays alive through joy, resilience, and the shared language of the dance floor. Because it offers a masterclass in the Afro-Cuban roots of salsa, and provides a dynamic gateway for discussions on migration, Afro-diasporic history, and the power of art to build bridges across borders. And above all, becasue it is a joyful tribute to the enduring resilience of a rhythm that refuses to be contained.

This electrifying documentary traces the music’s journey from its gritty, migratory roots in 1960s New York to its modern-day home in Cali, Colombia—the city where salsa found its ultimate devotion, celebrating its legacy and power to unite cultures.

Director Juan Carvajal offers a vibrant journey through a genre born from Afro-Cuban rhythms—mambo, guaracha, guaguancó—fused with the energy of New York jazz, and which found its second home in Cali, Colombia.

The film traces with historical rigor the musical round trip between Havana, New York, and Cali, showing how salsa became a shared language across cultures.  It delves into everyday life in Cali to portrait dancers, collectors, young enthusiasts, and veteran masters who keep the tradition alive in cabarets, competitions, and streets. Featuring rare archival footage and tintimate reflections from icons like Rubén Blades, Henry Fiol, and Willie Rosario, it celebrates the popular resilience of a genre that remains identity, passion, and community.

Related Subjects
About the Director
Juan Carvajal is an acclaimed Colombian-American filmmaker and curator who has dedicated his career to bridging the cultural gap between Latin American cinema and global audiences. After establishing himself as a premier film programmer, Carvajal transitioned to directing with his debut feature documentary, La Salsa Vive (2025), which traces the rhythmic heritage connecting New York City to Cali, Colombia. The film garnered critical acclaim on the festival circuit, including a world premiere at SXSW and winning Best Documentary at the Macondo Awards. His work is characterized by a deep commitment to musical history and the preservation of the Afro-Latino diaspora’s cultural identity.

Available for Q&As, Masterclasses, and workshops upon request, in English or Spanish.
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Before his directorial success, Carvajal became a cornerstone of the independent film community as the founder and Artistic Director of the Colombian Film Festival in New York (ColFilmNY) and the co-founder of IndieBo (Bogotá Independent Film Festival). His leadership has been instrumental in creating platforms for emerging South American voices to reach North American screens. Currently, he is in development on his next project, Petronio, a documentary exploration of the music and resilience of the Colombian Pacific region, further cementing his reputation as a vital storyteller of the Latin American experience.
Press

“A brave, sensitive, and necessary attempt to reclaim the living memory of salsa—understood not as a rigid genre, but as an Afro-Caribbean, urban, popular, and mestizo sonic crucible that has survived (with its wounds, mutations, and reinventions) the death so many have been eager to pronounce.” – André Didyme-Dôme, Rolling Stone

“Salsa culture brings ALL different Latin cultures together. La salsa vive really captures that joy and the sense of community this music has created from the beginning, and as it continually evolves, still creates today to new generations.” – Leslie Combemale, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Notes on the Film

“I grew up in Cali with salsa playing constantly in the background, and when I arrived in New York, I came looking for those roots. The inspiration for the project was reinforced after I met Larry Harlow, the legendary Fania pianist, who shared stories about the golden age of the genre. Together, we wanted to explore why salsa seemed to have lost momentum in New York. After his death, I returned to Cali and found a city that, thanks to a unique ecosystem, keeps salsa alive.

I wanted an immersive visual and audio experience, connecting past and present through authentic testimonies and a soundtrack that reflects the richness of both contexts. We carefully selected iconic and representative music of the genre, including historical and contemporary songs. Among the pieces included are Las Calles and Pablo Pueblo by Rubén Blades, as well as compositions by Henry Fiol and other leading figures in the genre.

Salsa has a very rich musical history, but licensing it is a complex process. We worked directly with the artists and their representatives to ensure that each song contributed meaningfully to the documentary’s narrative. The music is not just an accompaniment, but another character in the story. The process was challenging but rewarding, reflecting respect and admiration for these musicians and their legacy.

Salsa needs to open itself up to innovative collaborations, maintaining its essence but engaging in dialogue with contemporary genres and taking advantage of digital platforms to reach new audiences.”

– Juan Carvajal, Director

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