August 07, 2026
Provided image/Luiza Barreto
A new documentary short, 'Philly Rumba,' chronicles the emergence of the city's rumba scene. Above, local musicians gather to play Afro-Cuban music in the film.
Over half a century ago, a group of Black men living in Philadelphia picked up the claves and conga drums.
The musicians were drawn to Cuban rumba, a style developed by enslaved West Africans on the island, as a means to connect to their African roots. They continued drumming through the civil rights and Pan-African eras, the first Odunde Festival and MOVE bombing, and are now celebrated rumberos with standing Friday sessions in Germantown. Their stories, and those of the wider rumba community in Philadelphia, are captured in the new documentary short "Philly Rumba."
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Directed by Melissa Beatriz and Andrés Cisneros, the film is the first series of the Cultural Justice Project. This "multimedia hub" aims to preserve the histories of Black, Latinx, indigenous and immigrant artists. It is produced by the Philadelphia-based Activate organization, which Beatriz founded.
"For me, I have always been drawn to cultural preservation through folkloric music and archives," she said via email. "This partly comes from my own family background as the daughter of a Uruguayan immigrant, as our diaspora's cultural histories of Afro-Uruguayan traditions and political resistance were invisibilized."
Beatriz — and her co-director Cisneros — had another personal connection to the film. Cisneros and Beatriz's spouses are rumberos themselves. The documentary, which premiered Thursday at the BlackStar Film Festival, follows some of the stewards of their scene. They include Antonio Cosby and Andre Hawkes of Little Afrika and John and Dottie Wilkie of Kulu Mele African Dance and Drum Ensemble. The latter organization was founded by the late Robert Crowder, whose influence is discussed in the film.
"As we started collaborating and conducting oral history interviews on this community, we saw the greater need to preserve their stories through a lens of joy, affirmation and celebration," Beatriz added.
"Philly Rumba" will continue streaming virtually through BlackStar during the festival's run, but Beatriz and Cisneros are in the middle of planning additional local screenings. One of them will be held at the Esperanza Arts Center on Nov. 7. The event also will include live music.
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