Salsa

At age 24, Rémi Bonnet, brilliant pianist, abandons Chopin and Toulouse to play the music he has secretly loved for years - Salsa! He heads for Paris, the salsa capital of Europe, only to discover to his great surprise, that nobody wants a white boy in Latin band! Felipe, his Cuban friend, sets him straight: " You don't have the Latino look, muchacho! Today, if your are not Cubano or Columbiano, you are out!". Undaunted, Rémi deliberately takes on the identity, accent and complexion of an unemployed alien in a city where most foreigners will do almost anything to become French. Barreto, 75, the legendary Cuban composer, who is about to close down the once famous Casa Cubana, offers Rémi a job giving dance lessons to the locals. It is here that Rémi falls in love with Nathalie. Her family's "secrets and lies" reveal parental links to Barreto. Do these links explain why this shy beauty ought to be a bomb on the dance floor?

Directed by Joyce Buñuel, Salsa leans on a strong ensemble — Vincent Lecœur, Christianne Gout, Catherine Samie — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about music titles of 2000.