Ilán, a fifty-two-year-old visual artist, takes his family on a musical road trip, trying to
reconstruct the chaotic, creative life and tragic death of his father, Beno Lieberman, a pioneer of
folklore research in Mexico. Revisiting remote mountainous and jungle villages, they listen to
local musicians – some of whom Beno recorded in the 1960s and ‘70s – who continue to play
the very same music today. As Ilan confronts the mystery and pain of his father’s suicide, his
son and two daughters pose difficult questions that address the reasons for the silence that
often surrounds the act of suicide. And, while exploring the richness, intensity and variety of
authentic Mexican folk tradition, Ilán comes to terms with his feelings about his father by
opening up to his children and sharing Beno’s enduring musical legacy.