"El Chino Bar":
A unique experience.

The only place in the world where tango is sung as it was 60 years ago. In Buenos Aires, a big city with a present-day lifestyle, there is a neighborhood where time has come to a standstill: Pompeya, one of the places where tango was born. Here there is a bar, a unique bar: El Chino. A group of veteran artists has kept their friendship alive throughout the years. With their songs they express a particular way of seeing and enjoying life. Solidarity and loyalty are present in the magic environment of El Chino. This special feeling is transmitted by the artists through tango, and the audience can perceive it. The documentary shows the experience of those who visit El Chino bar, which has remained exactly the same since 1950. They share a night of happiness among artists who reflect the real spirit of tango, its essence, without commercial tricks, or marketing policies. The protagonists are people who have kept the habits, ways of life and artistic sensibilities of the 1950's. In most cases they are remarkable artists, unknown to the general public. Each weekend the bar gets crowded with an enthusiastic middle-aged audience, as well as with young people who come and get the "essence" of the place. Unusual characters, foreign tourists looking for a typical "porteño" place, people who want to preserve old customs, all make of El Chino the meeting place where poetry reigns every night.

Bar El Chino address: Beazley 3566
Capital Federal / Argentina
Tel.: (54-11) 49110215

THIS MATERIAL IS A DOCUMENTARY FOR TELEVISION.
Parts of this documentary are included in the film.
For further information contact
VOCACION S. R. L
.lion@vocacion.net / Mario Lion
Tel./fax (54-11-4345-1215) calos@vocacion.net / Héctor Calós
Tel/fax (54-11-4345-1215)

JORGE EDUARDO GARCƒS
("EL CHINO")

El Chino was the creator of a bar that attracts people looking for a new vision of tango and life, friendship and a warm atmosphere. It was set up by his father, when it was common to find a bar and a grocery together in the same shop. In time, parishioners came to the bar and sang tango before an all-men audience. Forty-seven years later, the bar has become a mythical place in Buenos Aires and El Chino, its mentor. As a result of Argentina's economic and political crisis, and with an impoverished middle-class, the shop that El Chino and his family have rented for so many years was for sale: the owner's heirs needed the money to survive. It hasn't been sold yet. El Chino died on 21st August 2001. He couldn't get over the death of his only child, in January of that year. El Chino always referred to the past as a time when people were more honest and patriotic. "Go to other countries and you'll see that people take care of those things which belong to all of them, here we don't take care of anything. And young people are not to blame. I dropped out of primary school when I was in third grade, maybe I'm not very intelligent, but those who claim to be so use their intelligence to do evil, when it should be used to do good..." says El Chino at one point in the documentary. Still, he considered himself a happy man because, as he put it, "I could make this dream come true". El ChinoÕs grandparents were Spanish and when JOSE SACRISTAN (the well-known Spanish actor) met El Chino, he felt identified with him and they became close friends. "What happens in the bar I haven't seen anywhere else" says Sacristán. When he's at the bar, he feels as if he were on the patio in his childhood home. El Chino, with his simplicity of language and manner, attracted all kinds of people. He had the sensibility of a poet. One who lacks pomposity and arrogance, who can perceive the true essence of things, understand it and express it instantly. Affection was for El Chino the most important value in life. He didn't worry much about the condition the bar was in, but about what his friends felt and thought. All these friendship memories are kept alive in the photos that cover the walls. As his voice sang, broken by so many nights with friends, and his hands expressed the feelings of tango, the bar became crowded with people of all ages and nationalities. Everyone wanted to get immersed into this poetry. The paint flaking off walls or the cigarette smoke or how far Pompeya (the bar neighborhood) was, none of these things really mattered; being there was a wonderful experience for everyone. The essence of things became visible, emanating from the hearts of all the people at EL CHINO BAR.