Gringo Rojo

Raised on a chicken farm in rural Colorado and blessed with matinee-idol good looks and enough talent to get his foot in the door, no one could have predicted the curious career path of North American singer Dean Reed. Signed with Capitol Records in the early '60s and groomed for bubblegum-pop stardom, numbers like "My Summer Romance" find modest success in the U.S. but are massive hits in Latin America. In 1962, with hopes of cashing in on his international popularity, Reed begins touring to a giant following across South America, where he learns of the brutality and repression of U.S.-supported regimes. As his Latin fame rises, he undergoes a surprising and unlikely political transformation. Director Miguel Ángel Vidaurre's self-described "pop memory exercise" is a treasure-trove for history aficionados - a colorful, whirling kaleidoscope of archival footage centering on "The Red Elvis"'s political awakening and eye-opening scenes of what was really happening in Latin America during the Cold War. Old photographs, interviews, concert footage, and other unpublished material are effectively used to chronicle Reed's career as a pop superstar with a social conscience up to his mysterious 1986 death outside East Berlin. (Seattle International Film Festival)