The screening on 14 May will be followed by a Q&A with director Rodrigo H. Vila.

Almost fifty years ago, Mercedes Sosa drafted together with other young artists, the so-called “Manifesto del Nuevo Cancionero” (The New songbook Manifesto), which anchored popular songs and music in indegenous folkore and social movements.

Apart from the millions of records she sold, the thousands of concerts she made all over the world, her countless fans and detractors, Mercedes Sosa left behind an indelible legacy. This film is a deep intimate journey into Mercedes Sosa’s world, not only as an artist but as human being. An autobiography through her own voice, with never seen before archive and several international artists giving their testimony about Mercedes’s life.

Sosa has reached legend status in Argentina. Some of her most famous recordings, including Gracias a la vida (originally composed by Chilean poet Violeta Parra) became torch songs for the leftist movements that struggled against fierce repression during the seventies and eighties. Blacklisted and exiled by the military dictatorship, the country declared three days of mourning when she died in 2009.

The film premiered at IDFA and this is a rare chance to catch it in the UK.