LA LUPE: QUEEN OF LATIN SOUL (USA)

World premiere of this hour-long documentary about legendary Afro-cuban pop singer Guadalupe Yoli (1940-1992). La Lupe was not a musical genius like Benny More or a consummate pro like her rival Celia Cruz. La Lupe was a flamboyant, extravagant woman with great stage presence and a powerful voice. La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul, on the other hand, takes a conventional approach, providing a chronological view of her tempestuous life via photographs, performance footage, and interviews. La Lupe's fame was both based on her singing and controversial aspects of her life: her devotion to Santeria, her exhibitionism, her drug abuse, and her late conversion to Christian fundamentalism. La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul was directed by Cuban-born, New York-based Ela Troyano, whose previous works include the award-winning short Carmelita Tropicana and disposable, gay-camp feature Latin Boys Go To Hell. She plays particular attention to La Lupe's years in New York, when she was a key figure in the emergence of "salsa" as the predominant Latin music genre. During the late '60s and early 70s, she was a highly sought out performer. La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul includes footage of her appearances in "The David Frost Show" and "The Dick Cavett Show". The clip from the latter is hysterically funny, and revealing in more ways than one. La Lupe:Queen of Latin Soul will have its broadcast premiere on PBS on June 5th.