Passion and reverence for traditional tango music – not to mention a love for Buenos Aires – is clearly evident in this documentary by director Miguel Kohan and writer Gustavo Santaolalla. Santaolalla is the Oscar® winning composer who soundtracked Babel and Brokeback Mountain, as well as being a respected producer and musician in his own right in both Argentina and the US, and his identity as a musician clearly guides the focus of this film. Ostensibly a making-of documentary about a group of legendary tango musicians preparing for a gala performance in Buenos Aires’ famous Teatro Colón, the guidance of Santaolalla means that this film’s focus is firmly on the musical talents of these men and women.

We are granted glimpses of the lives of these characters, who have entertained generations of Buenos Aires audiences on the Rio de la Plata (not to mention worldwide audiences) for over 60 years. But it is the exuberant talent of the various musicians which the filmmakers have gone all-out to capture, and their enthusiasm is infectious. Set mainly in recording studios where rehearsals have taken place, the film strips away the flamboyance of the tango (only at the final performace do we see any dancing) and demonstrates the enduring musicianship of maestros such as such as band leader Leopoldo Federico, Lágrima Ríos and her guitarist Aníbal Arias, and the incomparable duo of José Libertella and Luis Stazo.

Some of these exceptional musicians are not only creators of tango’s classical repertoire and founders of a variety of styles and schools, they’re also members of bands and orchestras who found fame during tango’s golden age of the 1940s and 1950s. Many may be known internationally, but others are only familiar within their own country, and just as Wim Wenders’ Buena Vista Social Club (1999) celebrated and introduced equally legendary Cuban musicians to a wider international audience, so Café de los Maestros is an invitation to discover Argentina’s finest tango legends.