Category: Latinos/Chicanos
Aids In The Barrio: Eso No Me Pasa A Mi / This Isn’t Happening To Me
This film by Francis Negrón and Peter Biella examines the impact of AIDS within Hispanic-American communities, focusing on the specific economic, social and cultural factors which influence perception of the AIDS crisis.
Gender/Sexuality, Latinos/Chicanos, Social Issues, USAAl otro lado
Border, Country/Region, Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USAAmericas: Part 10
"The Americans" The Americans return to the United States to profile California's Mexican-American population and the Latin American and Caribbean communities of Miami and New York City. This final episode poses questions about assimilation, national identity and how these communities are changing what it means to be an American.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, USAAnd the Earth Did Not Swallow Him
A moving and powerful portrait of the life of a poor Mexican American boy and his migrant farm worker family, as they struggle to adapt to life in American society. Adapted from the novel "...y no se lo trago la tierra" by Thomas Rivera. Through its many human stories of growing up as a Mexican American the story exposes the rich cultural traditions which have given shape to life in the American Southwest
Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, USABoda, La / The Wedding
You are invited to the wedding of Elizabeth and Artemio in Nuevo León, Mexico. The video introduces a young couple whose lives and community have roots in Mexico while they encounter the challenges of migrant life in the United States.
Border, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USABreak of Dawn / Rompe el Alba
Oscar Chavez, a great Mexican singer and actor is the leading actor of this story about the life of Pedro Gonzalez, the host of a radio show in 1930s Los Angeles. His life was filled with romance and music until he challenged a powerful and corrupt political system.
Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, Social Issues, USACafé Con Leche: Voices of Exile’s Children
An introspective look at young Cuban-Americans, the now-adult children of the first wave of Cuban exiles that came to the U.S. This documentary focuses on the fusion of traditional, old world values of yesteryear and modern, American culture, as the young Cuban-Americans comment on their experiences growing up bi-culturally.
Cuba, History, Latinos/Chicanos, Social Issues, USAChicana
Made by Sylvia Morales. Chicana traces the history of Chicana and Mexican women from pre-Columbian times to the present. It covers women's role in Aztec society, their participation in the 1810 struggle for Mexican independence, their involvement in the US labor strikes in 1872, their contributions to the 1910 Mexican revolution and their leadership in contemporary civil rights causes. A classic film by a leading Latina filmmaker.
Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, USA, Women's StudiesChulas Fronteras y Del Mero Corazon
Documentary films of the borderland between Texas and Mexico. Norteña music filled with the poetry of daily life-love songs, passion, death, humor, and loss is explored from dancehalls, small towns, and family gatherings.
Cinema/Theater, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Music/Dance, USACiudad, La /The City
Four fictional stories set in New York City, but common to many other places United States or the world. Filmed in black and white, the program depicts Latin American immigrants living in New York: day laborers paid to gather brick from an abandoned lot struggle to save one crushed when a wall collapses; a young man from Mexico meets a girl from his home village at a quinceañera, then loses her in the maze of a housing project; a homeless puppeteer dreams of a better life for his daughter, but cannot enroll her in school; a sweatshop seamstress needs money for her daughter?s medical treatment, but her employer has not paid her in more than a month. Most of the actors are nonprofessionals and are themselves struggling immigrants, bringing understanding and realism to the film
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Social IssuesCouple In The Cage
This film documents the traveling performance of Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Coco Fusco, in which they exhibit themselves as caged Amerindians from an imaginary island, providing a vivid and provocative interpretation of cultural encounters.
Anthropology/Archaeology, Art, Cinema/Theater, Latinos/Chicanos, USACruceros y Caminos
Like many communities across the Southeast, the town of Clinton, North Carolina, has become home to a vibrant and growing Spanish-speaking community. This diverse community of newcomers, who are attracted to the area by jobs in the agriculture and livestock industries, are struggling to honor their cultural and religious identities while making new lives. This short video documentary, made by a graduate student from UNC- Greensboro in collaboration with Clinton's Immaculate Conception Church and local Latino leaders, consists of still and moving images of community meetings, religious ceremonies, and cultural festivals which are narrated by a mosaic of voices from the community.
Latinos/Chicanos, Literature, Migration/Immigration, USACuba: The Broken Image
This program gathers together the most representative of exiled Cuban filmmakers, who recount their personal experiences of having to abandon their work and start a new life away from their country, culture and natural environment. The program features clips of their film and photographs as it takes viewers on a journey from Cuba in the late 1950s to the lives of the filmmakers today. Although Castro encouraged the development of a state sponsored cinema in Cuba, opening doors for many talented filmmakers, his policies towards intellectuals led many of these same filmmakers to abandon the island, leaving behind a broken image, an interrupted flow of creativity which some were able to find again abroad but others were not.
Cinema/Theater, Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USACuban Americans, The
An exploration of the experience of Cubans living in the United States, focusing especially on the nature of the community since 1959. The film avoids explicit discussions of politics and instead focuses on the maintenance of community, culture and identity among Cubans now living in the United Staes. Through interviews with numerous celebrities, the film explores the experience of leaving Cuba and subsequent exile in the United States, that challenges of building lives as newly arrived immigrants in the United States, and the cultural forms that served as vehicles for the preservation of Cuban identity.
Cuba, Culture/Festivals/Food, History, Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, USACuban Roots / Bronx Stories
This documentary traces the tangled paths and multifaceted identity of a black Cuban family in the Bronx. Both working-class and professional, black and Latino, foreign and native, Spanish-speaking and English-speaking, the family is shown in the constant process of negotiating its identity. On their arrival in Miami, the family immediately encountered racial segregation, and they were forced to choose their identity: Are you black or Spanish? The film explores the various experiences that each family member had in dealing with the realities of life as black Cuban-Americans in the Bronx.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, USADanza Del Espejo, La (Mirror Dance)
Identical Twins, Margarita and Ramona de Saá, grew up to become acclaimed ballerinas with the National Ballet of Cuba. Once inseparable, their relationship deteriorated as one sister left for America and the other embraced the Cuban Revolution. Mirror Dance is the story of two women forever linked by birth and dance but struggling to overcome a deep rift between sisters and nations alike.
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USADay Of The Dead: San Francisco / Dia De Los Muertos
This film captures the beauty and richness of San Franciscos annual Day of the Dead celebration. Enjoy scenes from this cross-cultural Mexican tradition that honors ancestors and families. People of all ages celebrate with a festival of marvelous costumes, reflective altars, live music and a neighborhood procession, all while exploring the relationship between the living and the dead. View all these aspects of the Dia de los Muertos holiday along with interviews with artists and participants.
Culture/Festivals/Food, Latinos/Chicanos, USADay Without A Mexican, A / Un Dia Sin Mexicanos (2004)
The California Dream suddenly becomes a hilarious nightmare when the entire Latin American population of the Golden State vanishes. For most "the disappearance" forces the cracks in their private lives wide open, including news reporter Lila Rodriguez, the state's last remaining Hispanic, and senator Steven Abercrombie III, who becomes governor pro tem despite his anti-immigrant stance. Confusion, misunderstandings and humorous situations abound, making this film a comedic satire and a modern fable with a very current message. This is the full-length feature film based on the 1997 short film of the same name.
Latinos/Chicanos, USADe Florida A Coahuila / From Florida To Coahuila
This documentary tells the remarkable story of a rebel people – the Mascogos, known in the United States as the Black Seminoles. This exceptional community is descended from escaped slaves who made common cause with the Seminole Indians of Florida. The exceptional Mascogo/Black Seminole culture combines African-American spirituals, Indian fry-bread, and Tex-Mex cowboy culture. Filmed on both sides of the border, this video documents the complex history of people of African descent caught between national boundaries, and the efforts of their descendants to maintain their culture.
Latinos/Chicanos, MexicoEdge Walker: A Conversation With Linda Schele
Documentary tribute to the late Linda Schele, among the leading scholars of Maya civilization, who in January 1998 gave a long, filmed interview in which she talks freely and frankly in her own inimitable style about her life, work, and philosophy.
Anthropology/Archaeology, Indigenous Peoples, Latinos/Chicanos, USAEntre Los Muertos
Entre Los Muertos is a documentary by Jorge Dalton which examines the way San Salvador’s citizens cope with the violence of devastating street crime, constant earthquakes and the ripple effects of decades long war. The film yields strong emotions as it explores the ways in which people perceive and deal with death. The film displays communities who live in cemeteries where tombstones are playgrounds, ‘funerary brokers’ who scout dead bodies for commission, families who bury kin in their backyard, and funerals and festivities on the Day of the Dead. It is an investigation of the economy of death, the value of life and how San Salvadorians walk a fine line between normalizing and desensitizing death, due to their historical roots in violence.
Country/Region, El Salvador, History, Latinos/Chicanos, Politics/Human Rights, SubjectEscuela, La
There are over 800,000 students enrolled in migrant education programs in the United States and, of those, only 45-50% ever finish high school. "Escuela", the sequel to Hannah Weyer's critically acclaimed documentary "La Boda", personalizes these glaring statistics through the honest portrait of a teenage Mexican-American farm worker, Liliana Luis.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, USAFiesta Quinceañera, La
This two-part video depicts a young Mexican-American woman's fifteenth birthday celebration. Set in Dallas, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico, the first part consists of a discussion of the preparations, planning, and logistics that have to be considered in planning this important social event. The second part observes the actual ceremony through various stages after the preparations are completed for the mass, the party, and the dance that traditionally follow.
Border, Gender/Sexuality, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, USAFLIGHT OF PEDRO PAN, THE
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, Politics/Human Rights, Religion, USAFlores De Otro Mundo
The story of relationship struggles between men and women in the small town of Santa Eulalia, in Spain. Among them are Patrica, the Dominican woman, and Milady, the Cuban woman.
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, Politics/Human Rights, Religion, USAFor Goodness Sake: Why America Needs Immigration Reform
In February 2011, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hosted His Eminence Cardinal Roger Mahony. At that time, Cardinal Mahony was head of the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, the 5-million member Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which is 70% Latino. In his presentation Mahony drew on scriptural and Catholic social justice doctrine in his call for immigration reform legislation. Also included with this film is selection of interviews with children of undocumented immigrants provided by Cardinal Mahony, as well as a public Q & A following the lecture.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues, USAGreat Mojado Invasion, The
The director narrates this pseudo-documentary, fantasizing an invasion of mojados (wetbacks) who reconquer lost Mexican territory to create the “U.S. of Aztlán.” This new regime propagandizes by portraying Anglos with the same stereotypes employed against Latinos. Directed by Gustavo Vásquez and Guillermo Gómez-Peña.
Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, USAGreener Grass: Cuba, Baseball, And The United States
While unfolding the story of the Cuba vs. the Baltimore Orioles games, this documentary develops a narrative of the history of baseball as an element of Cuban national identity, and the impact the sport has had on both the United States and Cuban relations. Especially interesting is the story of African Americans playing for Cuban teams, and both white and black Cubans playing in the early American Negro Leagues when baseball was segregated in the United States
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USAGringo In Mañanaland
This film is a montage of scenes from travelogues, dramatic films, industrial films, newsreels, military footage, geography textbook illustrations and political cartoons. Together they explore the stereotyped image of Latin America in popular US media during the 20th century.
Biography, Cinema/Theater, Latin America, Latinos/Chicanos, USAGringo Next Door
When Jack sees that his chickens are missing, he turns on the only people he thinks to blame - his Hispanic neighbors. The solution? Hire immigrant labor to build a wall between the two homes. A hilarious web of miscommunication ensues in this humorous satire. This short film was shot by UNC-CH students in Pittsboro, NC.
Country/Region, Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Subject, USAHarvest Of Loneliness
In today’s weak economy, current immigration laws in different states of the country show hostility towards undocumented immigrants. This was not the case during and after World War II where the United States was in need of laborers who would work the fields of California and other states. This documentary explores the Bracero Program, and immigration reform that sought Mexican workers for temporal guest workers. These workers could not join unions, strike, or seek redress of their grievances, making them vulnearable for exploitation. The program was supposed to boost the economies of both countries, but Mexican wives and children were left behind as husbands traveled north in search of the American Dream. The documentary shows how the main reason for the program was to provide cheap labor without regard for the Mexican families.
Country/Region, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, Social Issues, Subject, USAHotel Cuba
A documentary about the Cuban-Jewish community in South Florida, with interviews from both Cuban-Jewish and Non-Jewish members of the community. Robert Levine began the documentary after realizing the effects of the generation gap between Cuban-Jewish teenagers and their parents and grandparents, who were originally from Cuba. Robert Levine, joined with Mark D. Szuchman, a colleague at Florida International University, began to record their interviews with the community members to reflect the views of the community members.
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USAI Am Joaquin
This work by Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino marked the emergence of film as a distinct cultural and aesthetic practice within the Chicano Movement. In the film, Luis Valdez gives a dramatic interpretation of Rudilfo "Corky" Gonzalez's epic poem: I Am Joaquin, which was often distributed through mimeographed booklets to be read at rallies. This powerful film delineates all the contradictions of the Chicano experience over a 500-year genealogy of mestizo resistance.
Indigenous Peoples, Latinos/Chicanos, USALa Generacion del Estanbai
The working class of Puerto Rico is shrinking, leaving millennials entering the work force with few options.This film follows the lives of several college graduates and their economic hardships.
Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Puerto Rico, Social IssuesLos Que Se Quedan
An award-winning and discerning depiction of the impact of migration on Mexican families and villages left behind by loved ones who have traveled North for work.
Border, Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Social IssuesLow’n’slow: The Art Of Low Riding
Filmed in San Jose, CA, this work by Rick Tejada Flores documents the art and culture of the low riders, and includes an animated title sequence by Chicano artist Rupert Garcia and music by Jorge Santana.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAMayan Voices: American Lives
Set in Indiantown, Florida, a small, agricultural town 30 miles west of West Palm Beach, this film illustrates the challenges of a totally alien environment, exploring issues of identity, cultural integration, migration, and social change. It also demonstrated the impact 5,000 new immigrants with a foreign language and culture is having on the still predominantly white community.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAMiami-Havana
This documentary depicts the story of the two Cuban worlds of Miami and Havana, and the social, cultural, and political processes that have created this divide since 1959. It provides many touching moments that portray the difficulties of this fragmentation, as well as the ideological struggles in both communities. An excellent point of departure for considering the Cuban Revolution, migration and communities of exile. Produced by the Institute for Policy Studies, USA
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, Social IssuesMujeres Cubanas: Marcadas por el Paraiso
They were the women a man would silence. Robbed of their dignity and hope, they became his anonymous victims. Political prisoners, wives, mothers, writers, artists, children, lost at sea Forgotten over and over. Once deprived of their voices, they now speak.
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USANorte, El
Mayan Indian peasants organize in an effort to improve their lot in life. After the army destroys their village and kills their family, a teenage brother and sister decide they must flee to El Norte. After receiving clandestine help from friends and humorous advice from a veteran immigrant on strategies for traveling through Mexico, they arrive in Los Angeles, where they try to make a new life as young, uneducated, and illegal immigrants.
Border, Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USANueba Yol
In this comedy, a Dominican widower, Balbuena (Luisito Martí), decides to leave the economic strictures of island life behind for the streets-are-paved-with-gold promise of the Big Apple.
Comedy, Dominican Republic, Latinos/Chicanos, USANueba Yol 3
In this comically-numbered sequel, Balbuena (Luisito Martí) returns to New York, where he must marry an American citizen to remain in the country legally.
Comedy, Dominican Republic, Latinos/Chicanos, USANuestra Comunidad
This film documents the personal experiences and work environments of migrant workers living in North Carolina and examines the impact of their arrival on their newly adopted communities. The debate about whether illegal immigrants should be living and working in the United States is central to this film. Through many interviews with policy-makers, immigrants, religious officials, human rights workers and North Carolina residents, a complete picture of the opinions that fuel the debate is provided here. The film also examines the contours of cultural encounter and prospects for the future for these new southerners.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues, USAOfrenda, La: The Days Of The Dead
Made by Lourdes Portillo and Susana Muñoz. The very young, the old, and the deceased are all represented in this personal and affectionate filmmaker's relationship to the history, and present-day celebrations of the Day of the Dead.
Art, Culture/Festivals/Food, Latinos/Chicanos, Religion, USAOtro Lado, El
Americans simply pass through the turnstiles for cheap thrills in Tijuana. Mexicans on the other side, however, face endless barriers of barbed wire, attack dogs, and armed border patrols. Alex Webb captures the odd panorama of the border.
Border, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, USAPanama Deception / El Engaño de Panamá
Banned in Panama and labeled "subversive" in the United States, The Panama Deception gives an account of the events of 1989, when 26,000 U.S. government troops invaded the country searching for one man, Manuel Noriega. Made by a group of independent filmmakers, the film documents the atrocities that the official story omits. Includes follow-up interviews with the film's creators, and several bonus features concerning Panama, Latin America, and Iraq.
Latinos/Chicanos, Panama, Social Movements/Resistance, USAPapers: Stories Of Undocumented Youth
There are approximately 2 million undocumented children who were born outside the U.S. and raised in this country. This documentary explores the situation of young people who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only the U.S. as home and yet risk deportation to countries they may not even remember.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, USARevelaciones / Revelations: Hispanic Art Of Evanescence
Directed by Edin Velez, Produced and written by Chon Noriega. A documentary about the work, cultural expressions, and recent exhibits of 8 latino artists, this film also provides a means to think U.S. latino identity and history.
Latinos/Chicanos, USARoots Of Migration
A journey by US citizens to Oaxaca, Mexico reveals the global forces that have pushed millions of people to migrate to the United States. Learn first-hand why people make the journey north, why they wish they didn't have to, and what effect their migration has on their communities back home. Shot entirely on location in Oaxaca, Mexico during a fact-finding trip organized by Witness for Peace co-founder, Gail Phares.
Border, Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USARoots Of Rhythm
This is a joyous and colorful three-part musical odyssey that follows the powerful flow of Afro-Cuban music from its origin five centuries ago in Africa and Spain to the contemporary sound of such exciting popular artists as Gloria Estefan, Ruben Blades, and jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie. Program one traces the African and Spanish roots, Program 2 traces the cultural blending in the Caribbean, and Program 3 traces its popularity in the United States and eventually through the world.
Cuba, History, Latinos/Chicanos, Music/Dance, USASandra Hahn: Replies Of The Night; Slipping Between
In Replies of the Night, Sandra Hahn uses computer animation to activate a photograph of her grandfather who died a violent death during the Days of the Dead in 1946. In Slipping Between, she creates a “visual poem” by using another member of her family that died from cancer. The video projects a palette of images transmitting an array of feeling and emotion.
Latinos/Chicanos, USASaving Elian
The political, social, and international implications of the custody battle over five-year-old Elián González pitted the U.S. Department of Justice, the Miami Cuban exile community and the Cuban government in a new acrimonious struggle. Documentary footage from Miami, and some from Cuba, along with interviews and observations from participants, legal observers, and US- Cuban experts. The film explores how Elián became a metaphor over the future on both sides of the Florida strait. A PBS Frontline Documentary.
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, USASeams
Directed by Karim Ainouz, a young Brazilian American filmmaker, who traveled back to his home in Brazil to interview on film his five delightfully eccentric unmarried or widowed aunts on their views of love, family and marriage. These women all in their eighties or nineties seem more liberated and more at ease with certain issues than many people of today.
Brazil, Latinos/Chicanos, USASelena
The story of the legendary Tejana singer, Selena, who was tragically murdered by the president of her fan club. Jennifer López and Edward James Olmos star in this movie about he talents ,triumphs,and tragedies of the Quintanilla family.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAShrine, The
Explores the traditions and mysteries that surround El Santuario de Chimayo, a small adobe folk church in northern New Mexico. Thousands of people make pilgrimages to see the church and its "holy dirt," which has origins dating back to the ancient Pueblo Indians of the region. Oral interviews and narration trace the history of the church and its connection to New Mexico's Hispanic and Indian cultural heritage.
Latinos/Chicanos, USASleep Dealer
Sleep Dealer is a futuristic science fiction story set in a world not much different from our own, in which borders are closed, and a global, high speed network ties distant people and places together. The story centers on 3 characters who inhabit very different spaces in this world: a migrant, a soldier, and a writer. Sleep Dealer won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for both the Gotham and Independent Spirit awards. Geoffrey Gilmore, the festival director, describes the movie as "a combination of The Matrix, Blade Runner, and The Border". Already a Latino Sci-Fi classic, this film has been praised by critics and audiences alike.
Border, Cinema/Theater, Drama, Latinos/Chicanos, Mexico, Migration/Immigration, USAStreet Art
The first and last documentary by 18-year old Ben Gutierrez is a highly informative look at graffiti that breaks the art form down into four distinct categories: "peacing," gang style, tagging, and mural art. Gutierrez was shot and killed in the winter of 1990.
Latinos/Chicanos, USASueños De Angélica, Los / Angelica’s Dreams
Filmed on location in Durham, North Carolina, Los Sueños de Angélica follows the life of a Latino couple striving to enter the mainstream of American society. Angélica and Roberto work multiple jobs and take English classes as a means of realizing their desire to move ahead financially in the United States. At the same time they are torn between their new lives and a desire to return home to the land of their birth and recreate a new life there. Unexpected changes bring these tensions to the fore and push the couple to decide between these two desires. This film provides a window into the everyday lives and consciousness of Latino immigrants while exploring the process of buying a home in the United States.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, USASueños de Roberto, Los / Roberto’s Dreams
The sequel to "Los Sueños de Angelica" picks up 10 years later with the lives of a latino couple living in Durham. The recession has left Roberto without a job for some time, and he and his wife Angelica decide to start a cleaning business. After initial failures he finds himself on his way to starting a business that weds traditional knowledge with notions of sustainability and green practices.In order to get the venture going, Roberto and Angelica take classes on how to start a business at the Latino Cooperative Credit Union. In addition to relating an entertaining story with endearing characters, this film provides instructional information the steps necessary to start a new business and traces the shifting nature of the lives of latinos in the United States after they have established roots and become long-standing members of their local communities.
Economics/Development, Latinos/Chicanos, USASuper, El
A humorous and touching view of Cuban exiles living in a basement apartment during a snowy winter in New York, El Super is the story of Roberto, a superintendent who dreams of his warm and friendly homeland and stubbornly refuses to assimilate into the new culture.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAVanessa, The Orange Thrower (Vanessa, Arroja Naranjas)
A view into the family values and Catholic guilt in a Latino community. This film examines the tragic-comic problems that a Puerto Rican teen creates for herself when she decides to take attention by saying that she is pregnant.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAVida No Es Facil, La
This documentary examines the issue of the ineligibility of undocumented immigrants for in-state tuition at North Carolina's public universities and how this situation affects the lives of college-aged Latino students. Director Maurice M. Martinez examines this controversial topic through the stories of three such students who were born to poor farm workers in Mexico. They have spent much of their lives in the U.S. and are struggling to find the financial resources to attend college. Other topics covered include misconceptions of the Latino community, the conditions of agricultural labor and the impact of Latinos on the economy.
Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Social Issues, USAViva la causa
Viva La Causa focuses on one of the seminal events in the march for human rights - the grape strike and boycott led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta in the 1960s
Economics/Development, Indigenous Peoples, Latinos/Chicanos, Social Movements/Resistance, USAVoces Latinas
Produced by the Latinos in West Michigan Project, this video includes three segments of interviews with Latino citizens from Grand Rapids, Holland, and Muskegon. Featured narrators are: Mercedes Toohey, Marilia Blakely, Jurisa Negrón from Grand Rapids; Nereida García and Tino Reyes from Holland; and Connie Navarro, Tomassa Ybarra, and Joe Garza, Jr. from Muskegon.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAWhich Way Home
A heart-wrenching exploration of a lesser-known dimension of Central American migration to the United States. Every year tens of thousands of unaccompanied children, attempt to migrate through Mexico to the United States. Some as young as nine years old, these children ride atop the roofs of Mexican freight trains in hopes of getting to the United States. This film centers on the experiences of two teenagers from Honduras, Kevin and Fito, following them as they make their way north. The film explores their experiences undertaking a journey that is harrowing even for the most resourceful of adults. Interviews with migrant children,immigration officials, and parents back home reveal the myriad dangers these children face and their determination to brave these dangers in hopes of obtaining a better life.
Cuba, Latinos/Chicanos, Migration/Immigration, Social IssuesYo Soy / I Am
Features interviews with three artists instrumental in the Chicano art movement: Juana Alicia, Jose Montoya, and Malaquias Montoya. The three describe their early influences and inspirations, and discuss their philosophies on art and life.
Latinos/Chicanos, USAZoot Suit
Adapted from the 1978 stage play by the preeminent Chicano playwright Luis Valdéz, Zoot Suit is a musical drama of racism and intolerance in the culture of Los Angeles. It begins in 1942 with the death of a young Chicano (Mexican-American) which directly leads to the infamous "zoot suit riots."
Drama, History, Latinos/Chicanos, Music/Dance, Social Movements/Resistance, USAZoot Suit Riots
In August 1942, the murder of a young Mexican American man ignited a firestorm in Los Angeles. The press claimed Mexican youth – know as "zoot-suiters" for the clothes they wore – were terrorizing the city with crime. The police arrested 600 Mexican Americans while seventeen were found guilty for murder despite a lack of evidence. With stunning film noir re-creations, evocative original photography and moving interviews, this documentary tells the story of the trial and the resulting violent events of the summer of 1943.
History, Latinos/Chicanos, USA