Imagine Documentaries and Concord Originals have partnered on “Pa’l Pueblo: Fania for the People,” a feature-length documentary exploring the legacy of Fania Records and the Fania All‑Stars who pioneered salsa in the United States. The record label is credited with helping to inspire a cultural movement that led to the global dominance of Latin music today.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Raquel Cepeda, the filmmaker behind Showtime’s “La Madrina: The Life of Lorine Padilla” and VH1/MTV’s “Bling: A Planet Rock,” the film will feature new interviews with surviving members of the Fania All‑Stars and key figures from the Fania inner circle, alongside rare and previously unseen archival material. Imagine Documentaries, which is part of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, will lead production alongside Cepeda’s Resurgent Pictures, which was co-founded with the director’s late husband and creative partner, Sacha Jenkins. The project continues Imagine’s creative partnership with Resurgent Pictures following their previous collaboration on “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.”
The feature is produced by Sara Bernstein, Meredith Kaulfers, and Justin Wilkes for Imagine Documentaries; by Sophia Dilley and Wesley Adams for Concord Originals; and Cepeda. Play/Action Pictures is on board to co‑finance the film, with Jeffrey Lurie and Marie Therese Guirgis serving as executive producers. Additional executive producers include Concord’s Bob Valentine and Bruce McIntosh, Imagine’s Grazer and Howard, and Dana O’Keefe and Emily Selinger of Double Agent, with Selinger co‑executive producing. Concord Originals financed development.
Through the meteoric rise of the Fania All‑Stars, the label elevated such musical icons as Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Cheo Feliciano, Joe Bataan and Rubén Blades. The filmmakers say that the movement can “….still felt in contemporary music and popular culture, from global chart‑toppers like Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’ to moments like Bad Bunny’s epic Super Bowl Halftime performance.” The documentary also coincides with the passing of Willie Colón, whose musicianship helped define the Fania sound.
Concord, under the banner of Craft Latino, is the home of the Fania brand and its music catalog, which spans a combined 25,000 recordings and copyrights.
“The music of the legendary Fania Allstars has, over the decades, become an integral part of the ancestral memory of Pan-Latino folks the world over, and along with hip-hop, has soundtracked this Dominiyorker’s own life,” said Cepeda. “I’ve witnessed Fania—so transcendent that one doesn’t have to understand the lyrics to feel its truth to power—being celebrated all throughout the Americas, the Caribbean, and in countries ranging from Austria to France, and Japan to England. Now is the ideal time to explore Fania’s complicated social, political, and cultural legacy, while introducing new audiences and generations of music lovers to their timeless sound.”
“Now is the time to celebrate the lasting legacy of the Fania musicians, whose music continues to reverberate and inspire artists today, and we are thrilled to partner with Raquel Cepeda and Concord Originals to bring their unforgettable story to screen,” said Bernstein, who serves as president of Imagine Documentaries
“Fania’s impact reaches far beyond its iconic music—it’s the foundation of a cultural movement rooted in themes of identity and collective power that remain deeply relevant today. We are proud to partner with Raquel, Imagine, Play/Action, and Double Agent to champion this film and give this story the space it deserves,” said Adams, who serves as vice president of production for Concord Originals.
Imagine Documentaries work includes the Grammy-award winning “Music by John Williams,” the Emmy-award winning “Jim Henson Idea Man,” “Carlos” about Carlos Santana, “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,” “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” “Pavaraoti,” “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,” as well as a recently announced feature documentary on Whoopi Goldberg.
In the documentary space, Concord Originals released the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning “Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.,” a multi-part docuseries about the legendary Stax Records for HBO from executive producer Ezra Edelman (“O.J.: Made in America”) and director Jamila Wignot (“Ailey”); “Shari & Lamb Chop” directed by Lisa D’Apolito (“Love, Gilda”), which Kino Lorber released theatrically; Paris Barclay’s documentary feature “Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It” about the celebrated musician Billy Preston for Abramorama; and Ilya Chaiken’s music doc “Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks” from Academy Award-nominated executive producers Julie Cohen and Betsy West (“RBG”) for Giant Pictures.
Cepeda is represented by Bianca Grimshaw at Granderson Des Rochers.
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