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About the Film

At the age of 5, in his native Mexico, he learned to play the violin. At 8, he developed a lifelong love for the guitar. At 14, he honed those guitar virtuoso skills and his performance style working as a street musician, starting his own band long after, while still a teenager. And at 22 — just before his first album was released to acclaim — Carlos Santana became one of the major discoveries of Woodstock, anchoring the famous festival’s second afternoon on August 16, 1969.

A music industry legend for 50 years and a 10-time Grammy-winning global sensation, Santana continues to be one of the music world’s premiere artists, blending jazz, blues, and the Mariachi sound with a rock n’ roll spirituality and a sense of connection to music’s primal connection to our deepest emotions.

The electric documentary Carlos utilizes new interviews with Santana and his family alongside extraordinary, never-before-seen archival footage — including home video recordings Santana himself made; concert footage; and behind- the-scenes moments — as two-time Emmy-winning director Rudy Valdez creates an intimate, rich documentary about a man whose sound casts a spell on fans who love — as one of Santana’s famous titles says— “how his rhythm goes.”

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