YMCA - The Invention of the Village People

The story

In the mid-1970s, disco emerged in the underground clubs of New York. Seduced by this phenomenon about to conquer the world, French producers Henri Belolo and Jacques Morali created the Village People from scratch, a group inspired by iconic figures of American popular culture. Success was meteoric with hits like Macho Man, In the Navy, Go West, and above all Y.M.C.A., which sold millions of copies and became one of the biggest hits in pop history. Behind these festive choruses, however, lies a complex story: that of a group alternately celebrated as an icon of gay liberation or viewed as a pure marketing product. Through the accounts of former group members and disco specialists, Sascha Schmidt's documentary traces the rise of the Village People, from their beginnings in underground clubs to their global consecration.