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Like a class reunion, Lucy Walker's lively, music-filled documentary "Buena Vista Social Club: Adios" lets us catch up with old friends and pays tribute to those we've lost.

Walker reintroduces fans to the veteran Cuban musicians who got together in 1996, gathered by bandleader Juan de Marcos and American guitarist Ry Cooder, to record their songs. The resulting "Buena Vista Social Club" album, ranging from Afro-Cuban rhythms to the "son" style of country music, sold millions of copies worldwide and won a Grammy.

The album also spurred filmmaker Wim Wenders to join Cooder on a second trip to Cuba in 1998. Wenders filmed the same musicians in their home setting, as well as in concert in Amsterdam and in New York's Carnegie Hall — the first time in decades that many of them had performed in America since Fidel Castro took power. Wenders' 1999 documentary, also titled "Buena Vista Social Club," was a hit and received an Oscar nomination.

Walker's documentary serves as prequel and sequel to Wenders' movie. She starts by reintroducing the Cuban musicians featured on the album, employing behind-the-scenes footage in the studio and a wealth of archival material showing the musicians in their heyday.

There's some wonderful stuff in the old footage. There's guitarist Compay Segundo playing in his star-making duo, Los Compadres. There's singer Ibrahim Ferrer, the elegant star of Cooder's album, as a young backup singer to a big band — and, in the same performance, there's Omara Portuondo leading an all-female singing quartet. And so on.

Walker ("Waste Land," "The Crash Reel") moves quickly through the performances Wenders spotlighted, but takes time to show the musicians as they enjoy the thrill of worldwide fame. She also takes time to say goodbye to some of the stars, like Segundo and Ferrer, who died only a few years after the album and first movie came out.

The celebration continued for the others, though — a celebration highlighted by then-President Barack Obama's moves to normalize relations with Cuba. The surviving Buena Vista musicians mounted an "Adios" tour in North America in 2015, with a special stop to perform at the White House.

Walker's documentary doesn't capture the performances as much as Wenders' film did, but does provide more historical context through its rich archival material. "Adios" does succeed at doing something Wenders' movie did beautifully: It transmits the joy these talented, resilient musicians have felt as their songs have spread out around the world.

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'Buena Vista Social Club: Adios'

Lucy Walker delivers a fond follow-up to Wim Wenders' 1999 film about Cuban musicians rediscovered after years in isolation.

Where • Broadway Centre Cinemas.

When • Opens Friday, May 26.

Rating • PG for historical smoking throughout, thematic material and brief suggestive material.

Running time • 110 minutes; in English, and in Spanish with subtitles.